Limitations to Caregiving
It is wise to acknowlege these limits of caregiving and to incorporate them into a strategy of care.
There are many concerns, personal issues, family dynamics, situational barriers that make caregiving difficult. Some of these barriers can be resolved, others must be accepted and incorporated as natural barriers to achieving the perfect caregiving solution. The following is a list of some of the limitations that families have confronted as they tried to assist elder family members.
- Either the frail elder or their family are unwilling to admit there is a problem
- Poor communication between family members
- Longstanding family conflicts
- Bad timing— overwhelming circumstances or personal issues that make it difficult to take on additional responsibility
- Geographical distance
- Finances
- Overreaction — jumping in too deep too soon into a problem that does not yet warrant intervention
- Guilt and other emotions beyond what the situation requires.
- Not knowing — what to do, when to do it, how much to do, where to get help
- Inability to respect one's own needs and limitations and to set reasonable boundaries
- Inability to acknowledge one's limited energy, emotional involvement, unique caregiver personality.
Stories that work
We have included a few personal accounts by family members who have had to come to terms with limitations that have interfered with the level of care they wished they could have provided for their elders.
