How to Care for an Ageing Parent When You Live Abroad

Caring for an aging or sick parent is always tricky, but it becomes more of an emotional (and logistical) challenge when they’re at a distance. Being able to live abroad or travel the world is one of the many privileges of modern life, but it does have its downsides, and being away from family who need us is perhaps the most poignant one of all. When choosing a care home an important factor to consider is that if the nurses have had a CRB check and all of the other checks they should already have.

Age and illness take their toll on all of us at some stage or another, making us increasingly dependent on members of our family. What happens, then, when you and your aging parents live too far away, where a car is adequate transport? Here are four ways you can maintain those cherished relationships and provide support, even from afar.

Embrace Technology

Isolation is a real problem for the aging community, so try to help your parent maintain social contact by introducing them to new technology. Teach them how to use WhatsApp so you can send videos and images back and forth, and show them there’s more to the Internet than just email. Apps like Skype and Facetime can also bridge gaps in geography, so why not get them involved in regular video calls?

Maintain Phone Contact

To the aging generation, technology can feel alien – plus, it’s no substitute for real human contact, as we all know. For this reason, you should try to maintain other forms of communication, too, such as sending regular letters and talking on the phone. You may not feel that you always have time to keep in touch, but try to bear in mind that you could be your parent’s only point of contact all week.

Schedule Visits

Despite the many ways that technology connects us, there’s still nothing like a proper hug from a loving family member, especially in times of need. Although living costs are on the rise and many of us don’t have money in the bank for regular holidays, it’s important to schedule visits to see your parent when you can. They key here is to plan your holidays well in advance and search the Internet for cheap flight deals. If you can’t get away with the whole family, could you plan a short trip while your husband or spouse stays home? A special weekend could provide you and your parent with some much-needed quality time together.

Bring Your Parent to You

If you can’t get away, perhaps you could bring your parent to you? Whether they stay with you on a temporary or permanent basis is up to you, but there are ways to bring them closer if that’s what you both want, even if your parent has difficulty traveling. Flying Angels provide non-emergency medical transport services for elderly, unwell or disabled individuals, complete with bedside care from a professionally trained nurse, as well as medication and logistics management.

Relationships with family members are always changing. We all remember being dependent on them as children, so it’s hard to deny the poignancy of our parents needing our support as they age. Living abroad makes caring for aging parents difficult, but not impossible – it just requires more planning and resources.