Planning for the Future: Building Caregiving Support Teams

Planning for the Future: Building Caregiving Support Teams

May 18, 2021

Caregiving & Aging

Providing caregiving support to a family member or friend is often a team effort. Many times, a group of individuals come together to provide a patchwork of support to care for a loved one.

Do you have a sibling group, other family members, or friends that are starting to think about how they might care for each other if needs arise in the future? It’s a great thing to discuss before needs arise. Why not be the brave one and start a conversation about it? Here are some questions you might offer to get the ball rolling:

Questions for the person who might need support (care receiver):

  1. Who would you like to be included in your support team?
  2. Is there someone you’d like as your primary caregiver?
  3. List some tasks or activities that you would be open to receiving assistance with.
  4. Of the tasks listed, are you ok with anyone helping with these? List which tasks you would like a certain person to assist with.
  5. What are circumstances that would allow you to consider outside help (not someone in your support team)?
  6. List some tasks that you can imagine this outside help doing.
  7. What are some concerns or stressors that you have when you think about future care needs?
  8. What ways do you like to receive communications?
  9. List 5 items or activities that bring you joy (e.g., coffee, being outside, reading, flowers, golf, etc.).

 Questions for each individual in the caregiving support team: 

  1. What tasks are you comfortable doing for the care receiver? (e.g., prepping or serving meals, coordinating medical appointments, assisting with dressing, providing mobility help, chores, etc.)?
  2. What tasks are you uncomfortable doing for the care receiver?
  3. What tasks would you like to work on with others in your caregiving support team?
  4. If not the primary caregiver, list ways that you could support that person (e.g., run errands, be available so the caregiver can spend time away, help with household chores, etc.).
  5. If you are the primary caregiver, list ways that others in your support team could support you.
  6. What ways do you like to receive communication and how often?

 Talking about some of these will likely lead to more questions and conversation. That would be a great outcome! Sometimes, it is helpful to have a facilitator to help guide these discussions and provide outside insight if needed. FamilyMeans Caregiving & Aging offers coaching and consultation to help with situations just like this. Learn more at FamilyMeans.org or by contacting our Caregiving & Aging team at 651-439-4840.  

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