How to Care for Your Aging Parents From a Distance

Few things are more stressful than worrying about aging parents who are far away. As much as you want to, you can’t afford to give up your job and uproot your family to care for your senior parents. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a meaningful difference in their lives. Thanks to technology and easy access to resources, you can care for your loved ones from afar.

The Role of Long-Distance Caregivers

The role of a long-distance caregiver is largely that of an administrator. You may not be able to cook dinner or chauffeur to doctor’s appointments, but you can balance the checkbook, schedule appointments, and coordinate caregiving services.

You may also contribute financially to your parents’ care. Since local relatives often take on the role of family caregivers, cutting back on work hours in the process, this can be a kind way to share the financial burden.

4 Ways to Get Involved as a Long-Distance Caregiver

When it comes to caring for another person, it’s hard to know where to start. Use these ideas for practical ways you can contribute to your parents’ care, no matter how far away you are.

Use technology to keep tabs on aging parents

The first part of being a caregiver is staying in contact. Distance makes it harder to keep an eye on your aging parents, but you’d be surprised by how much you can do with technology. Long-distance caregivers can use video chat to stay in touch, motion sensors and medical alert systems to monitor well-being, and caregiving apps to communicate with other carers.

Don’t forget the basics like a good phone plan. If your parents are still using a landline, buy them a cell phone so you don’t have to worry when they’re away from home. Before adding parents to your plan, look around to see if any plans offer a senior discount. Providers like Verizon offer discounts for customers aged 55 and up, and since it’s an unlimited plan, you don’t have to worry about overage charges.

Take charge of healthcare coordination

As your aging parents develop health conditions, coordinating their medical care becomes a job in itself. While local relatives assist with driving to medical appointments, administering medications, and other hands-on tasks, you can take on the work of finding providers, scheduling appointments, ordering medical supplies, and resolving billing errors.

Keep an eye on your parents’ Medicare coverage as well. Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans change annually, which means that even if your parents’ plan stays the same, their coverage may change. It’s important to review these plans yearly to ensure your parents’ prescriptions and providers are still covered. Since Medicare Open Enrollment starts October 15 and runs until December 7, now is a good time to look into Medicare coverage options.

Give the gift of respite care

Being a long-distance caregiver is challenging, but local relatives who provide care face even bigger disruptions to their lives. Show your appreciation for the hard work they do by paying for occasional respite care. That may mean checking your parents into an assisted living facility for the weekend, signing them up for adult daycare, or paying for homemaker services to help around the house.

Search for an assisted living facility

At some point, your parents’ care may become more than your family can manage alone. If it’s becoming clear that your parents aren’t safe living at home, take charge of the search for an assisted living facility. Talking about assisted living is always a difficult conversation, but when you come prepared with information about the best facilities, you make the transition to assisted living easier on everyone.

From the little stuff like making sure your parents take their medications to the big stuff like figuring out how to pay for assisted living, there’s a lot you can do as a long-distance caregiver. If you need more information on becoming a long-distance caregiver, check Next Avenue’s caregiving guide for advice on every stage of caregiving.For help with Senior Veterans Care visit the Veterans Administration website.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019