Caregiving is a team effort, even if you feel all alone with it at the moment. Asking friends and family for help is sometimes really difficult to do, but it’s something that you can get better at the more you try.

Explain the Situation as it Is

It’s tempting when you need some help to adjust the situation a bit. You might underplay what you need or try to make it seem as if you really don’t need help at all, even as you’re asking for help. But these are all ways of trying to make yourself feel more comfortable about the fact that you’re nervous about asking for help.

Be Specific about What You Need

Get specific first with yourself and then with others about what you need. When you leave your requests vague and open-ended, that’s the type of help that you tend to receive. And when you’re a caregiver, the last thing that you need is vague help that doesn’t even come close to hitting the mark. If you need someone to stay with your senior for three hours, spell that out.

Ask What They Can Do

When you’re talking to other family members or to friends, ask them what they can do. When you know what they can offer in the way of assistance, you’re better able to match that up with your own needs. They may come up with ways to help that you didn’t even think about, which gives you options you hadn’t considered.

Keep Going, Even When Asking Is Tough

The first few times you ask friends and family for help, you’re probably going to feel silly or as if you’re bothering them. What can help with this is to keep asking. It’s going to get easier and you’re going to land on solutions that work for you and for your aging family member.

Find Other Answers

Sometimes it feels as if you only have certain people you could lean on for help. But that’s not necessarily the case. Hiring home care providers can get you exactly the help that you need, especially when other family members can’t help out to the extent you wish they could. The bonus to this is that home care providers have experience you can lean on even more.

Asking for help is not the easiest thing that you’ll ever do as a caregiver, but it can be one of the most important things you do. You can’t do everything on your own, no matter how willing you might be to make the attempt. In the end, you will serve your senior better by learning this skill as quickly as possible.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Homecare in Anderson, SC, contact Heart of the Carolinas Home Care at 864-991-3116. Providing Home Care Services in Greenville, Simpsonville, Greer, Anderson, Spartanburg, Mauldin, Seneca, Laurens, Charleston, Columbia and the surrounding areas.

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Edward Harrison

Founder at Heart of the Carolinas

Edward Harrison founded the Heart of the Carolinas Homecare in 2007 when he saw there was a need for caregivers that provide non-medical home care services, at a price that most people could afford. It was standard in the industry to require hourly minimums and it was common to be assigned a caregiver, not matched with one based on your individual personal needs. Edward understood that to make a successful relationship between caregiver and client, skills were not enough, personality and compatibility plays as much a role as do skills.

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