Sunday, 11 August 2019

The Sandwich Generation: Caregiving Affects the Whole Family

The sandwich generation. A generation of people who are sandwiched between two equally important caregiving roles: caring for their own children and caring for their aging parents. The sandwich generation is lumbered with plenty of responsibility, never mind the fact that they also have their own careers to nurture in the interim.

If you are currently a part of the sandwich generation, you will undoubtedly be looking for advice in terms of how to juggle all of your daily tasks, keep everyone happy and still have enough time on your hands to take proper care of yourself. We have put together some helpful tips below in an effort to help ease some of the strain.

Gather Support

The only way to survive these two caregiving roles simultaneously is to enlist plenty of support. You will definitely need to rely on your partner a lot. There will be instances where you simply won’t be able to be in two places at once. For example, if your elderly father has an appointment to see the neurologist on the same day that your youngest has a dance recital, you’re going to have to make a judgement call. It’s always helpful if at least one parent can attend those important events. Also, make sure that you don’t miss out on those wonderful moments by taking the duties in turns.

You may also want to seek encouragement from caregiving support groups. There are lots of them online, particularly on social media, and there may even be face-to-face groups that you can join within your community. It’s always comforting to know that you’re not alone and that there is a safe place to ask for advice from those who have ‘been there and done that’ when you need to.

Get the Kids Involved

Rope the children in to helping you look after their elderly grandparents. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach them all about empathy, responsibility and patience. Plus, it will make the caregiving tasks easier for you to cope with and allow you all to spend some quality time together as a family. If the kids aren’t interested in helping out of the kindness of their hearts, make the offer a bit more attractive by throwing in some rewards or perhaps a small amount of extra pocket money.

Consider Senior Home Caregivers

A home care assistance agency can aid you in finding senior home caregivers who can help to lighten the load when it comes to caring for your aging parent(s) so that you have more time focus on your kids. Senior home caregivers often do more than just care for the elderly – they also assist with other important tasks, like cooking and cleaning.

Ultimately, the secret to surviving the sandwich generation is finding balance, asking for help when you need it and, of course, setting time aside to see to your own needs too.

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