Caregivers Serve Multiple Roles

Many of us experience life as caregivers at one time or another.

Whether we must attend to our younger siblings at an early age, provide for our own children, our partners, neighbors, parents, family members or patients—we find ourselves in the position of taking care of another person.

Caregiver Role

Our role as caregiver may require us to step into the role amidst a crisis or emergency, or if we’re fortunate, we get the opportunity to plan ahead and prepare ourselves for our new role over the course of time. Our role as caregiver always coincides with our other roles in life such as that of parent, partner, daughter/son, neighbor, friend, community member, caregiver and (insert profession here). Take precautions so that this does not lead to high anxiety and reduced self-care. Eat well, get plenty of sleep, exercise and do what you need to do in order to take care of yourself so that you can care for your loved one.

Caregiving Requires Us to be Experts at Many Things

In addition to taking on the personas of many different roles, we as caregivers of aging loved ones, assume the responsibilities of chef, nurse, medication manager, physician, maid, taxi driver, financial adviser, lawyer, organizer, mover, accountant, real estate agent or companion to those for whom we care. We do this out of love and concern. It forces us to quickly become experts in each of these areas, which may not always jive with our already-busy schedules. Juggling multiple roles demands a lot from us, to say the least. Reading up on and detaching ourselves a little bit about each of the above-mentioned roles and associated issues before a crisis hits, can go a long way in ensuring your aging loved one is cared for as best as possible without sending you into panic mode.

Resources for Caregivers

The good news is resources abound in each of these domains of caring. Connecting with VistaLynk and enrolling in one of our caregiving courses or eldercare workshops will better prepare you as a caregiver of an older loved one. VistaLynk learning opportunities provide expertise and support that allow participants to rest a little easier knowing their loved one has what he or she needs to thrive.