How Home Instead Can Support Your Family

Do you care for a loved one? This role, although rewarding, can be stressful to manage alongside other commitments. Read on to find out how Home Instead can help.

Do you care for a family member, such as your Mum or Dad? Being a family carer can be rewarding, but it can also be very stressful. We all want the best for our aging parents, but when juggling that pressure alongside your own family, work and other commitments, it’s easy to experience burnout. Keep reading to find out how Home Instead Wimbledon and Kingston can share your load.

Looking after an elderly relative is what many family members believe is their duty. After all, if they looked after you when you were young, it seems like the right thing for you to take care of them now. However, family caregiving can sometimes prove stressful and isolating, as our research has revealed. These struggles can put immense pressure on family carers which can’t be continued in the long run. Many family caregivers feel stuck, like they don’t know how to move forward and improve their situation. Does that sound familiar to you? Have a look at some of our findings before finding out how Home Instead Wimbledon and Kingston can help if some of these apply to you.

1. 88% of family caregivers neglect their own health and wellbeing in place of looking after their relatives.
2. 86% say they’re feeling guilty about not doing enough for their parents or their children.
3. 65% struggle with their mental health due to the pressure of juggling commitments.
4. Most family carers are unaware of how to access help – they don’t know what’s available or who to ask about it.
5. Most family caregivers feel guilt not just about what they do for their parents, but also feel guilt about neglecting their careers (75%), partners (78%) and other relationships (85%).

These statistics might be shocking to you. As a family caregiver, you might at times feel lonely, or like other people can’t relate to the struggles you are going through. If you feel like you can’t continue struggling to balance the commitments in your life, help is at hand. Home Instead offers some brilliant services which will enable your elderly parent to remain independent in their own home, without putting all the stress on your own shoulders.

So, what can a visit from a Care Professional do for you? The preconceptions you have about social care are likely to be misaligned with what Home Instead can offer. In a nutshell, we guarantee regular Care Professionals rather than an array of unfamiliar faces, we guarantee reliable visits at agreed times, and we will tailor the visits to include what you need, rather than pushing a standard package. What’s on offer?

1. Personal Care – help with getting dressed, bathing, grooming, etc.
2. Companion Care – preventing loneliness, giving emotional support, being a friendly face.
3. Home Help – making the beds, washing the dishes, doing laundry, hoovering… any sort of regular household cleaning that people are no longer able to do themselves.
4. Dementia Care – keeping those living with dementia both safe and comfortable in their own homes.
5. Medical care – administering appropriate treatments or managing a medication schedule. (Care Professionals are trained to provide certain types of care, such as administering eye drops, using a catheter, etc).
6. Live-in-Care – around the clock support.

These are just a few of the many types of care on offer from Home Instead. Most care calls will be a combination of different types – for example, helping a client to shower and dress, then tidying up the kitchen and preparing their lunch. All our care calls are bespoke to the client. You can read more about the different services we offer here in our Care Guide.

Meet Our Team – Home Instead Wimbledon and Kingston

Here are just a few of our key players at Home Instead Wimbledon and Kingston and how they will help you on your journey to care.

1. Client Care Manager, Samantha Joseph. Samantha creates bespoke care packages for her clients, ensuring that each individuals needs are catered and cared for.

2. Field Care Supervisor, Laura Kripps. Laura is just one of our Field Care Supervisors. We also have Live-In Field Care Supervisors as well. Her job is to support the Care Professionals to enable them to provide the best possible care to their clients.

3. Care Professional, Lina Vasileva. Lina is one of our highly skilled Care Professionals. Lina was recently praised by a client for going above and beyond the call of duty, ‘Lina is an absolute asset to Home Instead. She is extremely caring, comforting and compassionate and has shown exceptional support.’

If reading this blog has made you realise how much it would support and benefit your family to arrange visits from a Care Professional, please get in touch. Care begins with a phone call, putting into motion a care plan to improve your wellbeing, as well as that of your parent.