Caring for an aging loved one with dementia or other chronic illnesses can be both challenging and rewarding. With the right support, you can craft an affordable and compassionate care support team that provides exceptional care without breaking the bank. In this guide, we’ll explore practical tips and strategies to help family caregivers build an affordable yet effective care team.
Understanding Your Loved One’s Needs
Before assembling your care team, it’s essential to understand the specific care requirements of your loved one with dementia, other chronic disease, or just becoming frail due to aging. This involves assessing their daily needs, medical requirements, and emotional well-being. By pinpointing the skills and support needed, you can better tailor your team to meet these demands.
Steps to Identify Care Needs:
- Daily Routine: Note down all the tasks your loved one needs assistance with, from morning routines to bedtime. Don’t forget things like laundry, grocery shopping, etc.
- Medical Needs: Identify any specific medical care or medication management required. This could include transportation for medical appointments, or scheduling doctor’s appointments, etc.
- Social Interaction: Consider their need for companionship and social activities. What are their preferences for social interactions? What do they like to do? How do they like to spend their time? What can someone else do with them to spend their time. Scrapbook their photos? Play cards? Read to them? Listen to music?
It is also important to assess your own needs. Consider as a gift from us, our first module from our “Blueprint to Building a Care Team on a Budget.” This contains our “Caregiver Self-Awareness Checklist” to guide you through three categories to assess your needs as a caregiver. Look at how you are dealing with the physical, emotional and support areas of your caregiving journey. Where might you need help? You can grab that HERE.
Building Your Team on a Budget
Creating an effective care team doesn’t have to be expensive. By leveraging your personal network and community resources, you can assemble a group of dedicated caregivers.
Tips for Building Your Team:
Draw a circle on a piece of paper. In the middle draw a small circle. This is your inner circle. Write down the list of family, close friends, and people you count on in a pinch. Next draw a circle around this inner circle. This is your next circle of influence. Consider close neighbors, church family, community resources you attend or clubs such as VFW, Eagles, Moose Club etc.
Lastly, draw another circle outside of this previous circle. Now make a list of people that you may have forgotten. Go through your phone. Look at your contacts. Check your parents phone contacts. Who are you missing? We sum it up here.
- Leverage Personal Network: Reach out to family members, friends, and neighbors who might be willing to help.
- Community Resources: Contact local support groups, volunteer organizations, and faith-based groups for potential caregivers.
- Skill Diversity: Ensure your team has a mix of skills, from medical knowledge to emotional support.
Prioritizing Tasks and Creating a Schedule
A well-organized schedule is crucial for consistent care and preventing gaps. Prioritize tasks and assign them based on the strengths and availability of your team members. For those that attend our boot camp we will provide a shareable calendar for use with your care team.
Sample Schedule:
| Time | Task | Assigned To |
|—————-|———————————–|————————-|
| 8 AM – 9 AM | Morning routine and breakfast | Family Member A |
| 9 AM – 12 PM | Medication and light exercise | Volunteer B |
| 12 PM – 1 PM | Lunch and social activity | Neighbor C |
| 1 PM – 3 PM | Rest and relaxation | Family Member A |
Adapt this schedule as needed to fit the changing requirements and availability of your team.
Investing in Caregiver Training and Education
To provide high-quality care, it’s essential for your team to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills. Invest in affordable or free training programs to enhance their caregiving abilities as an option.
At the very least consider each volunteer’s “zone of genius” and what they can do, what they can’t do and what they will not do. Begin to match this up with the needs of your parents. My brother will fix anything at our mom’s house but he won’t want to take her to the bathroom. Carefully consider what you need vs what are the skills of your volunteers.
Affordable Training Resources: This will depend on the motivation of your volunteers and the type of needs of your aging loved one. Caring for someone with dementia requires some basic knowledge on how to communicate with them and avoid confrontations.
- Local Workshops: Many community centers offer free or low-cost caregiving workshops. Reach out to your Aging and Disability Resource Center in your County. Every county has a government support agency for senior care support. The name may be different. If you aren’t aware of what it may be called, reach out to your local health department and they can steer you in the right direction.
- Online Courses: Websites like Coursera and Udemy provide affordable courses on dementia care. Also websites such as Alzehimer’s. Org, and National Institute on Aging. We have these links in the resource section of this post.
- Support Groups: Join local or online support groups to share experiences and learn from others. Your aging resource center in your county would also have information on your local support groups.
- Your Nurse Advocate Website and Free Resources for guides and tools to manage the care of loved ones with dementia. Search topics under the Blog Tab.
- Your Nurse Advocate YouTube Channel: Can search for topics including communicating with loved ones with Dementia.
We have several free resources to help. You may also consider a nurse or patient advocate to help you build and craft your team.
Utilizing Technology for Team Communication
Effective communication is key to successful caregiving. Utilize technology to streamline coordination and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Recommended Apps:
- CareZone: Organize medications, appointments, and notes.
- Lotsa Helping Hands: Coordinate tasks and schedules among team members.
- WhatsApp: Use group chats for quick updates and communication.
Planning for Respite Care
Caregiving can be demanding, so it’s crucial to plan for respite care to prevent burnout. Arrange for temporary care to give primary caregivers a much-needed break.
Affordable Respite Care Options:
- Adult Day Care Centers: Provide daytime care and activities for your loved one.
- Respite Programs: Check local nonprofit organizations for respite care programs.
- In-Home Respite: Hire a temporary in-home caregiver through agencies offering affordable rates.
- Hospital Respite Programs: These will be private pay but if you have a reason you need to be away, you will have the piece of time mind your aging loved one is being well taken care of.
Conclusion and Call to Action
Building a compassionate care team on a budget is achievable with the right strategies and resources. By understanding your loved one’s needs, leveraging your network, prioritizing tasks, investing in training, utilizing technology, and planning for respite care, you can provide excellent care without financial strain.
Ready to take the next step? Join our 30-day boot camp, “Blueprint to Building a Care Team on a Budget,” and start crafting your compassionate care team now. We will come alongside you and in real time assist you in crafting your care team.
Share this post with others who might benefit from these insights and join our supportive community of caregivers dedicated to making a difference.
We hope we have given you a few nuggets to help you craft a care team and take some of the responsibility off of your shoulders. We also hope you can create some time for self-care as you build your support system.
Take care of you, and we will see you back here soon,
Pam and Linda
Your Nurse Advocates
“Compassionate care for aging parents and peace of mind for the adult children.”
Resources:
Your Nurse Advocate Consulting Free Resources
More Info on Blueprint for Building a Care Team on a Budget: Video
Free Caregiver Self-Awareness Assessment
Blueprint for Building a Care Team on a Budget
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia/understanding-different-types-dementia
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia
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