Diabetes Care at a Distance: Strategies for Remote Caregivers

Diabetes Care at a Distance: Strategies for Remote Caregivers - MalaysiaCaregiving Support

Diabetes Care at a Distance: Strategies for Remote Caregivers

Want to be able to support a loved one with diabetes while you’re staying apart? This article will uncover ways to overcome the challenges of long-distance diabetes caregiving.

Do people with diabetes need a caregiver?

Diabetesis a chronic condition that will affect as many as seven million Malaysians by 2025. However, through proper care and management, you or your loved ones who are diabetics are able to live long and fruitful lives with little worry. Even for cases of type 2 diabetes, it’s not the end of the world.

However, it can become more of a challenge if you may be living away from your loved ones who are diabetic. Maybe you need to relocate due to work responsibilities, or maybe other matters have arisen that keep you far from home. How do you ensure your loved ones receive the right amounts of care? What’s an ideal solution if you can’t always be for them?

Caregivers and Diabetes

The importance of being a caregiver for a loved one with diabetes can’t be understated. Not only are you taking them to and from medical appointments and regular dialysis sessions, but you’ll also need to help keep an eye on their overall recovery. That means:

  • Regularly tracking their blood glucose levels and ensuring it’s normal
  • Make sure your loved ones are eating a healthy, balanced meal
  • Ensure your loved ones are taking their medications as prescribed
  • Help around the house or with activities of daily living (ADLs)
  • Provide support and companionship

A caregiver’s role will be instrumental in keeping your loved one’s diabetes at a more manageable level where they can live out the rest of their days in comfort and joy. Being able to support your loved one’s journey does so much more to the benefit of their recovery than you might think.

Moreover, being around means you’ll be able to keep a close eye on them at all times to keep them safe. This is even more important if your loved one’s physical health may still be weak, or if they may have other conditions that can impede their recovery. Caregiving can be very rewarding when you’re able to see to your loved one’s needs every step of the way and they flourish because of it.

Telehealth and Caregivers

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has become a more prominent part of healthcare provisions for people with limited access to the medical care they need. Given how interconnected the world is today, telehealth enables caregivers to quickly gain crucial medical advice from medical professionals to deliver the best care their loved ones deserve – all from the comforts of their own homes.

But telehealth isn’t just about staying in touch with doctors, it also involves:

  • Monitoring vital signs using smartphone apps or other technologies
  • Getting health screening results online
  • Getting expert advice from online resources

Despite the prominence telehealth has had, it’s still a developing field. Doctors are quite keen on its applications in our modern society, but many doctors are worried that vulnerable groups will be left behind, especially those who can’t adapt to modern technology. If your loved ones fall in that category and you’re unable to be there to help them, it can ultimately affect the level of care your loved ones need to stay healthy despite their diabetes.

Long Distance Caregiving

Long-distance caregiving can be even more of a burden on caregivers. The act of caregiving itself requires a great deal of patience, empathy, and understanding to help a loved one get through their recovery. Now with distance keeping you and your loved ones apart, it does make it a lot harder to make sure they’re receiving the right amount of care.

Add to that your own anxieties of how your loved ones will cope without you being there for them, as well as various other emotions that get in your way, and it’s easy to feel burned out even when you’re not there.

In such times, you’ll need to make use of every avenue available to you to effectively manage your loved one’s diabetes at all times. It won’t always be easy, but you’ll have to make the most of your current circumstances and ensure your loved ones get the help they need in your absence.

Stay in Touch

For those who are recently diagnosed with diabetes, communication can be difficult because of all the emotions one might experience after learning about their condition. It’s nonetheless important to show them that they are still loved and that you’ll do everything you can to help them through this new journey. You don’t need to broach the topic immediately; give them time to think things through before you bring it up – or wait for them to talk about it on their own accord.

It’s important that your loved ones understand the situation at hand, especially since you won’t be around to look after them. It will take time to discuss this at length, so have patience and be understanding of how they feel. As long as both of you can openly communicate about this and future care arrangements, you should have little difficulty in preparing for the road ahead.

It can be beneficial to schedule daily or weekly video calls with your loved ones to check in on them and see how they’re doing, while also updating them on your own well-being. If you’re able to, regular visits – even for a short while – can also do wonders to boost your loved one’s mood and even improve their mental health.

If need be, speak to a medical professional about what they would recommend to help your loved ones communicate their needs or how to bring up the topic with them without hurting their feelings. Here are some useful tips to consider before, during, and after discussing their condition:

  • Let them decide what to talk about and what to avoid discussing. This will make them feel more at ease discussing how they feel about their current situation.
  • Hear out what they have to say. Lending an ear can be a big relief for your loved ones.
  • Set boundaries, if needed. For example, decide on how often to have video calls to check in on one another.
  • Give them space if they don’t want to talk about it just yet, or if they don’t feel ready to answer certain questions.
  • Focus on what you can do for your loved ones. Speak to them at length about this; this can be helpful to you and reduces stress from thinking about how to best help your loved ones.
  • Let them know if you may have care arrangements in mind for them. Get their feedback on what kind of care arrangements they’d prefer; they’ll be the recipients of care, after all.
  • Start small with the help you can give them while you’re away; something as simple as a food delivery can be a good start.
  • Visit as often as you can. It shows your loved ones that you’ll always be there for them, even though you’re far apart.

Stay Informed

This is especially important if your loved one was recently diagnosed with diabetes. It can be frustrating for them to have to change their whole lifestyle because of their diagnosis; some may even feel depressed because of how life-changing the condition is for the rest of their life. It’s therefore important that you find out everything there is to know about your loved one’s diabetes: not only should you read on best practices for managing it, but you should also prioritise other topics of note, such as exercise.

There are plenty of resources you can access online to help you learn more about your loved one’s diabetes and how to manage it effectively. You can then share this information with them, such as healthy lifestyle tips and simple exercises they can do whenever they can. You’ll also need to stay up-to-date on their overall health, too, especially when you’re not around to accompany them for medical appointments or in case of an emergency.

If you’re regularly in contact with them, make sure you also have a system where your loved ones keep you informed of how they’re doing or if they need help with things. Even if you can’t be there to help, you might be able to find some other way to assist them. Ideally, you’d want to be able to teach them how to do certain things on their own before you have to leave where you have to go. If it’s difficult for your loved ones to familiarise themselves with certain procedures, such as taking their blood glucose readings, don’t force them to do it. Forcing them can end up building resentment, even if you’re genuinely trying to help.

Get Your Family’s Help

Family always comes first, and if you have family members who are near to your loved ones, you’d want to think about getting their help for even more peace of mind. That does mean having to discuss with them in great detail what they need to do and the things they need to avoid, but if it means greater reassurance for your loved one’s well-being, then it’s worth the effort.

It’s important that your other family members understand what is asked of them. If they’re willing to help, then great; if they’re not, you should avoid forcing the subject on them and see if you can get help from someone else. It can be tricky having to discuss health matters with others in your family, but again, communication requires empathy, understanding, and patience.

Even if they’re agreeable to making caregiving arrangements, communicating with your family members – and hearing them out as well – can be a huge boon to everyone. In doing so, you can avoid miscommunication and resentment, as well as build lasting bridges with one another to foster greater trust and familial love. Anything’s better than staying apart, after all.

Here are some other useful tips that might be useful:

  • Let them set boundaries if needed. You’re asking for their help, after all; sometimes, even they might need a break or they’ll end up burning themselves out.
  • Discuss budgetary arrangements. Everyone can chip in a small sum to reduce the financial burden of looking after their loved ones.

Get Support from Others

There may be occasions when your family might not be able to help you with looking after your loved ones. Or, you might be looking for a different kind of support: it may be seeking advice or friendship with other caregivers like yourself, or support for your loved ones so they don’t feel lonely while you’re away.

Look up local support channels, too. They may be able to offer useful advice to help you with taking care of your loved ones even from a distance.Diabetes Malaysia, formerlyPersatuan Diabetes Malaysia, is a non-profit organisation that focuses on providing quality care for diabetic patients via awareness, prevention, education, and management of this medical condition. There’s also theNational Diabetes Institute(NADI), which conducts various initiatives to help promote diabetes awareness. They also conduct free counselling and blood test sessions, among many other activities.

Support groups, both online and otherwise, can also be a source of comfort for your loved one. Its members can offer your loved one camaraderie through various social activities like meetups, exercise sessions, and more. Your loved ones may find some solace in conversing with and engaging in these activities with others like them, and it might help add some meaning to their days.

Even as a caregiver, you can also seek out caregiver support groups that offer similar benefits and add an excellent support system to help you deal with burnout or get useful tips to make your caregiving easier.

Have a Health File Ready

You should ideally have a file (physical or otherwise) available that touches base on your loved one’s overall health. This can be very useful if you’re able to get help from others to look after your loved ones, as it ensures your loved one gets the quality care you’d normally provide if you were there. The information you should provide in this file includes:

  • Names and phone numbers of your loved one’s care team, if any
  • Details of your loved one’s prescriptions, including dosage instructions
  • Your loved one’s dietary plan, as well as foods to avoid
  • A list of emergency contacts (i.e., close family friends or neighbours)
  • Other important notes, such as ideal times for them to exercise

Hire a Caregiver

If it puts you at ease, hiring a caregiver can ensure your loved one always has someone to look after them at all times. It’s important to distinguish betweenhiring a caregiver and a maid, however, as their roles and responsibilities can be very different. In short, maids are usually hired to help with daily chores around the house. They are less than ideal candidates for taking care of someone as they lack the necessary skills to properly look after another person’s needs.

Hiring a caregiver shouldn’t have to be a stressful or costly affair. In fact, it’s a far better option than having to leave your loved one in a care/nursing home indefinitely. Even if there may be trained personnel to take care of their needs, the setting of a care/nursing home may not be conducive for your loved one’s well-being, more so if they object to it.

Diabetes Care at Home

Looking for quality care for your loved one while you’re away? Ourhighly trained Care Proscan care for and support your loved one – not only with managing their diabetes but also looking after their overall well-being. Our penjaga can assist with activities of daily living, guide your loved one’s physical exercise, and even conduct regular blood sugar tests with minimal fuss or frustration. They can even take your loved one out for doctor’s appointments, dialysis sessions, and more.

We can help provide you with affordable home care and companionship when you need it the most.Download our appnow to learn more and start booking quality care for your loved one. References

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