“I couldn’t do my job because I was pretty much in pieces. My 15-year-old daughter is mad at me because I am so engaged with my mother. I am alternately so sad about my mother’s decline that I can’t stop crying and so enraged that my life is being messed up that I want to dump her…this just goes on and on, and I’m falling apart.”

-Woman on her experience caring for her elderly mother; New York Times

In Minnesota, people rarely talk about what it is like to become caregivers for their elderly parents; how it is affecting their life, their job, and their finances. However, there are many effects of personally becoming a caregiver to your own parents that may encourage you to consider assistance and the benefits of home care in the form of an in-home care assistant.

Witnessed Effects of Personally Caregiving for Elderly Parents

Many different studies have shown that there are many effects of caring for elderly seniors when someone is already in difficult circumstances. Just some of the emotional and financial costs of personally providing care include stress, fatigue, resentment, increased tension in family relationships, scaling back of work efforts, losses in annual wages, sacrifices in careers and promotions, and much more. Some researchers have noted that large amounts of adults turn down career promotions, and find themselves in a detrimental financial cycle following full-time care of an elderly parent.

Benefits of Hiring In-Home Care

With in-home care, much of these emotional and psychological issues are completely alleviated. Family members are able to put their minds at rest knowing that their loved ones are being tended to, while having the time to balance work, relationships, and their personal time. Furthermore, many family members are not well versed in caring for elders, and may find themselves spending more money on emergency medical attention and medication than they would have spent had their loved one been under supervision of a trained in-home care assistant.

At Baywood, we have seen what a difference compassionate in-home care can do for Minneapolis families. Families are able to balance between their loved ones and the rest of their life, while care recipients are receiving companionship and care. View our testimonials to read about what some of our families have said.