Question

Why flexibility and adaptability important in a caregiver?

Answer 1

Some of the reasons why flexibility is one of your most important tools as a caregiver include:

• Focus. When you are making decisions about your parent’s care, why do you come to the particular decisions that you do? Is it because you are doing what you truly believe is best for your aging parent and their particular needs in that situation? Or is it because you are doing what you think is right based on your original perceptions of your parent’s needs and your initial goals and perspectives of care? When it comes to flexibility, focus is about making sure you are always doing what is actually right for your parent and not what just fits in with the ideas of caregiving that you had going into the situation. Being flexible enables you to evaluate each situation and decision that you encounter carefully so that you can then move forward in the way that you know is right for your loved one.

• Responsiveness. Having a plan is vital to being the best caregiver you can be for your aging parent. This plan is what will help you prepare for your care efforts and for situations as they arise. Sometimes, however, those situations do not happen as you would expect them to and it is not possible or practical to follow through with what you had planned. If you are not flexible you will waste time in these situations attempting to force them into your original plan. Instead, flexibility enables you to respond in the way that is appropriate at that time.
• Fulfillment. Your care journey is not just about making sure that your parent’s needs are met and that they stay safe and healthy. Instead it is about giving them the highest quality of life that they can have as they age in place. Being flexible means giving yourself permission to just let life happen sometimes. You may not get all of the errands done on the day that you thought that you would, but you will have gone to a movie with your parent on a whim and then turned it into a double feature. You might have to put that dinner that you made into the freezer for the next night, but you will have had fun ordering a pizza and relaxing with your loved one. This will give your experience more meaning and create memories you will treasure for a lifetime.