Between the pandemic and families living far apart, there’s a need to share some tips for long-distance family caregivers. Today we’ll discuss some tips and tools that will help you keep your long-distance family member as safe as possible whether it’s during a pandemic or everyday life.
How do you take care of an aging parent long distance?
There are many ways you can take care of an aging parent long distance. For starters, our iSharing app helps track your elderly parent to ensure they’re safe and getting from one location to another without issue. Our app features unique options such as being able to message each other and get alerts if your aging parent goes out of their regular routine. This alert can help you care for your aging parent when you live far away from them with ease.
Tips for Long-Distance Family Caregivers
Establish Access to Important Aspects
Have a discussion with your family member so that you can gain access to their financial statements, schedule, and other important aspects of their life. This will ensure you have a way to discuss things like health care costs and wishes, as well as assist if any legal issues arrive. Most elderly parents can provide access to a family caregiver by signing some paperwork and assigning the family member as their long-distance caregiver.
Install Apps
Some aging parents may not have a smartphone or have any idea how to use one. This is where you’ll need to connect them with someone local who can help them install apps on their smartphone for tracking and communication purposes. With the advancement of technology, you can rest easier knowing that there’s an easy way to track your aging family member from afar without hassles. Simply have your family member educated about how to use the tracking apps and how to communicate with you should an emergency arise.
- Download on Google Play Store (Android)
- Download on Apple App Store (Apple)
Chat With Your Kids
As a parent, it’s important that you also have a chat with your kids about their aging family members. This may be their grandparent or another aging family member that you must care for from afar. If you have older kids, they can help you with your long-distance caregiving tasks by installing a tracking app on their smartphones to track and communicate with their elderly family members. This will help you keep the communication open and more people on the team for long-distance family caregiving.
Discuss Health Issues
Lastly, you’ll want to know what’s going on with your aging parent’s health. This will help you keep track of appointments that need to be set, and work through the payment issues for any surgeries or appointments they may need during your time as their long-distance caregiver. During the pandemic, many adults aren’t allowed to have someone with them in the hospital or at doctor visits, so having an app to virtually meet with the specialists and doctors will help you be a part of the medical process and planning stages without traveling to your parent or getting involved with arguing about being by their side during the COVID-19 restrictions.
These are just some of the ways you can use our app to help track your loved ones that live afar. When you become a long-distance caregiver you’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed, but the above tips will help you move forward in caring for your elderly relative regardless of how far away you live from them.
