When a family member begins to get older, it is usually their children or relatives who are in charge of helping them with day-to-day tasks.

We can talk about bureaucratic procedures such as those at the bank, organizing their medication, guaranteeing their hygiene, or simply keeping them company.

Before resorting to the services of a professional caregiver, there is a period of time where the elderly person does not believe they need them, but neither can they live independently. On the other hand, there are also circumstances where a family cannot always afford these services.

In both cases, your top priority is to allow you grow old at home without losing medical adherence.

We will explain how to support caregivers who are responsible for the well-being of our loved ones, and how to manage these family roles.

Are you the primary caregiver or remote caregiver?

The accelerated aging of the population means that more and more people must take care of elderly relatives or friends.

Between 2015 and 2050 the number of older people will have doubled.

In the words of the WHO, during the period between 2015 and 2050 the number of older people will have doubled. We are then talking about 22% of the citizens.

In large family units, the tasks of caring for the elderly tend to be shared. The most common thing is that it is done between siblings, but we can also see it in nephews or close friends.

Some of the tasks that we can find arethe organization of medication,or ensure the therapeutic adherence

The roles vary depending on family synergy, but we can distinguish two key factors when caring for a third person:

Primary caregiver: The one who assumes greater responsibility in the day-to-day life of our family member. Remote caregiver: Who supports the primary caregiver, but is not involved as intensely as the primary caregiver does.  

According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), there is a key condition to distinguish the primary caregiver from the remote caregiver. Fundamentally we are talking about the distance that exists between your main residence and that of the person who needs care. A remote caregiver lives at least an hour away.

On the other hand, it is also common to assume both roles at different stages of our lives, and even vary depending on the patient. For example, we can be the primary caregiver for our father, and at the same time the remote caregiver for his brother (our uncle).

How to help care for an elderly person:

Not being physically close to the care recipient and primary caregiver does not mean that high-quality care and support cannot be offered.

As we have already mentioned, the remote caregiver cannot invest so much time. However, there are useful resources to support both the main caregiver and the patient.

At IMA we propose these 3 resources that can be very useful:

    • Establish regular communication:It is well known that Loneliness and lack of social contact make adherence difficult and impact the patient's health. Call often to strengthen the bond with your family member. Any telephone conversation time is a benefit for both parties: it can be a break for the main caregiver, and at the same time a distraction for the recipient of care.  

    • Assume part of the economic weight: Eliminate financial burdens by taking charge of some of the services that the patient requires: private insurance, home care or cleaning.

You can also reinforce your family member's therapeutic adherence with medication organization systems. This way you will relieve some of the responsibility that the primary caregiver accumulates, and they will know that their father or mother is taking the correct pills.

    • Summarizes research related to the disease, medical plan, insurance or senior day center, for example. Even when you are far away, you can carry out bureaucratic tasks electronically, as well as learn in greater depth about the options the patient has and the measures that can be taken.

Offering specific help to someone in charge of caring for the elderly can speed up their day-to-day life, and benefit both their routine and that of the family member in care.


Disclaimer: At IMA we offer advice and information about our products. Consult with an expert before making any decision that may affect your health.