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Are you a family caregiver? Taking care of those you love most is an honorable thing, but the truth is, you could probably use some extra help.
And there are a lot of family caregivers just like you out there.
Today, nearly 48 million people provide unpaid care to an adult over the age of 18, according to AARP. Among those individuals, one in five of them are giving unpaid care to an adult with health or functional needs, such as those who need help with the activities of daily living. And 26% of caregivers are taking care of someone who has dementia or Alzheimer’s.1
As the US population ages, so do those caregivers. A poll from the University of Michigan found that more than half of all Americans over the age of 50 are taking care of an elderly adult who has difficulty with the activities of daily living. 54% of those between the ages of 50 and 80 said they had helped an older adult with some sort of “care task” over the last two years.2
That poll found a few other interesting facts about caregivers:
· 21% found it tough to balance caregiving with time with family and friends
· 22% found it difficult to find time for self-care
· 31% had trouble balancing work and other responsibilities with caregiving duties
· 34% dealt with emotional and physical fatigue
And some caregivers noted that they have a problem in more than one of these areas.
The good news: there’s help out there. And one of the things that might help you the most is getting an emergency alert system for the one you love. Here’s why.
1. More Time for You
Burnout is a very real problem that can creep up on caregivers, leading to depression, anxiety, impatience, irritability, and feeling hopeless and helpless. Physical symptoms can kick in too, such as feeling pain or soreness for no apparent reason, having lower energy levels, and getting sick more often.
Also known as caregiver fatigue, it usually happens when you are devoting most or all of your time and energy to taking care of someone else and not carving out any time for yourself to rest, relax, and recharge.
Caregiver fatigue doesn’t just affect you. It affects the person you are caring for as well, because the more exhausted and burned out you are, the more it affects your caregiving.
But how can you carve out time when you must be “on” around the clock?
That’s where a medical alert system with fall detection comes in.
Let’s say you worry about your aging parent falling out of bed if they try to get up at night; that’s why you don’t soak in the tub when you have the opportunity or even why you don’t sleep soundly. Or perhaps you want to start going to the gym again to take better care of yourself, but you are worried about being gone for an hour in the morning, as they might need your assistance with something.
Knowing that your loved one has an emergency button alarm right there at their fingertips can help you breathe a sigh of relief. If anything happens, help can be summoned immediately. And the monitoring center can alert you to the button push, so you can get back right away if needed.
2. Save Money
When your elderly parent insists that they want to maintain their independence and remain at home as long as possible, you might sometimes think that’s tough to manage. But if you look the costs of long-term care, you might realize that staying at home as long as possible is by far the best financial option.
That’s because according to the 2021 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, the median cost of a private room in a nursing care facility is a whopping $108,405 per year. Even a room in an assisted living facility can run a median of $54,000 each year.3 When you look at those numbers, suddenly the thought of paying for affordable options – such as a medical alert pendant or bracelet – becomes much more appealing.
Even if you choose to hire a home health aide to manage costs while easing your caregiving burden, you are looking at a median price of $27 per hour (oftentimes much more, depending on where you live). Compare that to the cost of a medical alert system, which can cost as little as $19 per month for 24/7 protection, and this handy emergency safety device makes a lot of sense.
All it takes is the press of a single button to get help on the line. That allows your parent or other loved one to live at home longer and stay independent, even if they are living alone.
3. Stretch Your Time Further
You simply can’t be everywhere all at once, though there’s no doubt you do a great job of trying. Sometimes you need to run an errand, go to the doctor or dentist, or go to work – and that means you can’t be there for your parent 24/7. But medical alert systems for seniors can be there around the clock, with a trained professional at the other end of the line at a moment’s notice, day or night.
When your loved one presses the medical alert button pendant, necklace, or wristband to get help for an accident, injury, or any other reason, those at the monitoring center will assess the situation and send the appropriate help. You can be one of those on the short list to be contacted right away in the event of emergency.
But if the issue is more serious, you can be rest assured that the monitoring center will contact the appropriate emergency services to come to the aid of the person in your care. This means that your loved one will get the help they need, right away, whenever they need it – and allows you to breathe a sigh of relief as you go about doing the things you must do, confident that they are protected and in good hands.
4. Easy to Use
Though many elderly adults are quite savvy with technology and know their way around a smartphone as well as any teenager these days, there are others who have not joined the technological revolution.
If you are smiling and nodding right now, you have one of these individuals in your life, so you understand.
Teaching someone to use a cell phone can sometimes be frustrating. The features can be confusing. Adding contacts, choosing to text or call, searching the internet, and navigating through the tiny buttons on the device to get there can make some seniors want to throw the phone out the window!
If the senior you are caring for has dementia or some other type of cognitive decline, those things can be even harder.
The good news is that using a personal emergency response system is super simple—just press one button and speak to the live agent that comes on the line to assist. That’s it.
Peace of Mind for You
Once a caregiver has decided to add an affordable medical alert to their caregiving toolkit, all they have to worry about is making sure their loved one wears their medical alert bracelet or pendant all time. Whether they are at home or on the go, they need to have it on – and that includes wearing it in the shower, when they go to bed, when they run an errand or two, or when they are simply sitting in their comfortable chair at home. (At Alert1, we have helped countless members who have fallen getting into or out of their favorite chair.)
Senior life-saving alert systems provide an added layer of protection that gives everyone peace of mind. You can take a few hours away from home to relax or run errands knowing that your loved one has instant help available.
Let Alert1 be your constant companion in the caregiving journey. Take a look at the variety of emergency response systems we offer and choose the one that works best for your loved one and your own peace of mind.