Research shows there is an increased stress load on long-distance carers, and that the longer the distance, the greater the likelihood of carers experiencing challenges [1]. Family members in this situation take extra time from work to visit and spend many hours trying to organise care from a distance.
So, it’s not surprising that the navigating aged care system is even more complex when we're oceans apart. You might have multiple siblings spread across the country and globe, and you’re unsure how or who should take care of what. You want to be able to spend the time you have, especially your visits, as quality time with your parents rather than being swamped with administration and organisational tasks. This guide aims to simplify the challenges of long-distance caregiving and offer solutions to ease the burden for the whole family.
By sharing these challenges, we hope to communicate that you are not alone in this situation, and that support is available. We’re passionate about ensuring this experience is easier for Australians looking after their ageing relatives.
Establish a local support network: Connect with your parents' community—friends, neighbours, and local relatives—and set up a system for regular check-ins. We make it our business to see what tools can be useful and there are some great programs and Apps that facilitate local connections and communication like Community Circle or Gather My Crew amongst others.
Document Organisation: Find out where your parents store critical documents such as insurance policies, bank account details, investment, and legal documents. It’s also helpful to have a list of doctors, medications taken as well as hospitals or clinics engaged in their medical treatment. This can change often but start with today’s records as a baseline to update as needed. Having copies online, like keeping an electronic filing cabinet is priceless to easily access as needed.
Share the load: We see countless families where one or two adult children do it all and carer burnout that can go with it. Delegate responsibilities by separating tasks based on each family member's skills, availability, and proximity. For example, one person might be responsible for handling financial matters and another the medical and care plan, and use technology to your advantage for sharing files, rostering and to keep everyone in the loop. It doesn’t have to be a fancy solution and a simple WhatsApp group can be a great start.
Self-Care for Caregivers: You can’t fill from an empty cup! Look after your own health and well-being and make time for yourself when you need it. Even from afar you can provide great support and make many arrangements, especially now via digital platforms.
Professional Assistance: There is help out there. Professional Aged Care Consultants can provide you with invaluable assistance, such as understanding the Aged Care System, finding and organising care, creating personalised care plans and much, much more.
We work with families that live all over Australia and overseas who need help arranging aged care for their relatives, many of whom are in a state of crisis and overwhelmed when they come to us. We’re about helping families to both lessen the overwhelm and to proactively facilitate the right care with expertise and compassion.
We offer a variety of services, as every family’s situation is unique, in some of the forms below.
Initial phone consults:
Starting with an initial phone chat, allows us to listen to the client’s needs and why they have reached out to us. We then explain if and how we can support, and for more personalised comprehensive help from there, we can book a consultation at a time that suits everyone.
Personal and Family Consultations:
Ageing Well Sorted can offer personal consultations to guide families through the maze of aged care options, the various organisations they may need to deal with and a high-level assessment of what needs to be done. They can conduct these consultations remotely to include family members who are overseas, interstate or simple cannot attend in person.
End-to-End Service:
We can manage all aspects of aged care arrangements, from understanding unique needs, and liaising with government agencies, to setting up home care or residential care services. This allows full outsourcing of all work, where we do the heavy lifting for a period of several months or longer as needed.
Government Agency Navigation:
Ageing Well Sorted provides independent accurate advice and representation with Centrelink/DVA and My Aged Care. We advise on eligibility, and complete, lodge and track applications to ensure they are calculated correctly right up until completion.
Urgent Care Assistance:
In emergencies, we can act swiftly to assess immediate needs, manage hospital or rehab transitions and discharges, and importantly secure an urgent mix of care for a return home, or to respite, new living arrangements or residential care.
Continued Support:
We can provide ongoing support to ensure that care services are properly set up and meet the evolving needs of the individual and also with keeping records up to date and correct with government agencies and providers.
Case Study: Navigating International Aged Care for the Thompson** Family
This family's predicament exemplifies the struggles many face when caring for elderly parents from afar. With one son in Europe, a daughter in New Zealand, the challenge of co-ordinating their father's care was complex. Their father, living with dementia, required constant care, and their mother was nearing exhaustion as his primary informal carer.
Ageing Well Sorted provided a multi-faceted approach to address the family's needs:
In-Home Evaluation and Online Collaboration: We visited the parents' home in NSW for a thorough assessment. Concurrently, we organised online meetings to include the adult children overseas, ensuring all voices were heard.
Family Coordination: This was an opportunity for the family to unite in organising the necessary paperwork and affairs. We guided them through every step, fostering a collaborative environment despite the physical distances.
Aged Care Placement and Financial Planning: For the father, we found a high-quality aged care home nearby. We also arranged for aged care financial advice, ensuring the family made informed decisions about funding their long-term care arrangements.
Mother’s Home Care Services: With the father's situation stabilised, we shifted focus to the mother. We secured home care services to alleviate her burden and implemented changes to make the home more manageable for her.
Ongoing Communication: Throughout the process, we maintained constant contact with the family members in Sydney, Europe, and New Zealand. We navigated the complexities of aged care together, providing reassurance and clarity at every turn.
With our comprehensive support, the father received the care he needed, and mother was able to reclaim her life and health. The Thompsons were relieved of the administrative and logistical burden, allowing them to focus on spending meaningful time as a family when together. Through our continued guidance, the family found a sense of solidarity and security in their father's care arrangement and knowing we can be contacted easily for future care needs.
** Name changed for privacy.
Professional services like Ageing Well Sorted provide a guiding hand, ensuring our loved ones receive the best possible care regardless of the physical distance between us. If you need advice or assistance with long-distance care of a loved one, get in touch today.
References:
Gunn, Kate M., Julie Luker, Rama Ramanathan, Xiomara Skrabal Ross, Amanda Hutchinson, Elisabeth Huynh, and Ian Olver. 2021. "Choosing and Managing Aged Care Services from Afar: What Matters to Australian Long-Distance Care Givers" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 24: 13000. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413000
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