Caregiving While Working: Home Care Powered by AUAF Can Help

Millions of Americans assume the role of a caregiver for a family member or parent (Stepler, 2015) every year. More than half of these people try to juggle having a career along with being a caregiver (Public Policy Institute, 2015). The difficulty in caregiving while working is managing to meet the goals you may have with both work and caregiving.

After a certain amount of time trying to manage both, you might find that you are unable to keep up with the demands of work and caregiving adequately. Managing your time between two very important tasks can begin to take a toll on your productivity and your well-being.

Consider the options at Home Care Powered by AUAF when it comes to caregiving.

Finding a Caregiver to Help

If you must be dedicated to your career, you can always consider the addition of a caregiver. Though this will often take careful thought and consideration, it can be one of the best decisions you make.

The addition of a caregiver, otherwise known as an in-home care aide, to help take care of your family member will allow you to focus on other roles in your life. At the same time, opting for care from a reputable agency will also give you peace of mind. When you pick the right agency to provide your loved one with in-home care, you provide them with access to people that are thoroughly trained and experienced in aiding their everyday life.

The Benefits of Opting for a Caregiver

When you opt for a caregiver to take care of your loved one, you may be doing yourself and your family a great service. Often, when you are working full time and caregiving, you spread your time very thin. This can have detrimental effects on more than just your productivity at work. If can affect your family life as well. When your time is spread thin, you may be missing out on events or momentous family occasions because of time constraints.

So, the addition of an in-home caregiver gives you the opportunity to better allocate time. In this way, you can meet the needs of your career, know that the needs of your loved one are met, and still have oversight of your loved one’s care. Beyond that, having an outside perspective from a caregiver can often give you insight into the needs of your loved one that you may have been missing.

The other benefits include:

• Having ample time and energy to focus on your parent/relative as well as the rest of your family
• Having a caregiver with formal training in best practices and ongoing research in the field
• Being able to focus on your career

Caregivers are able to adjust to different and varying levels of care. In-home care services include: help with grooming, laundry, medication reminders, brain games, companionship, social activity, and other personal care.

Our Caregivers at Home Care Powered by AUAF

We provide training and competitive pay to our in-home caregivers. This highlights the ways in which we want to provide quality caregivers to our recipients of care.

Become a Paid Family Caregiver

Some people also want to be able to solely take care of their parents throughout the week. This can be a great option for some people. Becoming a caregiver can be extremely rewarding, and being able to do so for you parents even more so.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the reality for many people until certain assistance programs were set in place. These programs allow family members to opt to become formal paid caregivers for their parents.

To do so, there are different eligibility requirements. Take a look at how exactly to become a family caregiver, from the requirements to the caregiving responsibilities.

The Benefits of Becoming a Caregiver for Your Parents

Becoming a full-time caregiver for your parent is no easy feat. But for the right person, it can be a great decision. You may often find yourself wanting to stay home to take care of your parent or loved one. You could also find that you enjoy the tasks that come along with senior care, making it something that you find worthwhile.

It’s also understood that many different communities benefit from an adult child becoming a caregiver. This is because they would otherwise not reach out for caregiving services. Home Care Powered by AUAF recognizes the different ways that many different immigrant communities have cultural norms that lessen the likelihood of obtaining a formal caregiver that isn’t part of the family.

So, the addition of a family member as a formal paid caregiver can provide access to care for those in our community that would otherwise not have it. The benefits include:

• Maintaining care for family that may not accept long term care from people outside the family
• Your ability to maintain your focus on your family member instead of dividing your attention
• When done through an agency, like Home Care Powered by AUAF, you will get training on best practices for your care recipient

Conclusion

Whatever you decide, becoming a caregiver or opting for one of your family members will require some contemplation. You should remember to thoroughly look at some of the benefits mentioned above. Beyond that, you can discuss it with your family to decide on what will work best and what everyone is most comfortable with. Everyone will have different circumstances and thus will have different conclusions that make sense for their situation.

If you have a question about our home care services at Home Care Powered by AUAF give us a call at 773.274.9262.

References

Stepler, R. (2015, November 18). 5 Facts About Family Caregivers. Retrieved from http://pewrsr.ch/1MC5IxI

Public Policy Institute. (2015, June). Caregiving in the U.S. AARP. Retrieved from https://www.caregiving.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/05/2015_CaregivingintheUS_Final-Report-June-4_WEB.pdf