Building a positive and solid relationship with your family caregiver lays the foundation for strong, compassionate, and effective care. If you are a family member making plans for your parents or grandparents, who have difficulty with ordinary daily activities, caring, or sports, or if you are receiving home care yourself, it is within your power to forge a good and trusting relationship with your family caregiver. We are going to share several tips that may help you build a good and Trust with caregiver
1. Communicate Openly and Honestly
Express Your Needs and Preferences
Good foundation for any good caregiving relationship, so state your needs early on. Let those who take on the role of caring for you know exactly what you expect from them, in terms of the kinds of care you might require (eg, do you need assistance or supervision with meals, bathing, or dressing?), the routines with which you are comfortable, and your preferences about daily activities or interactions (eg, would you welcome a bedtime story read to you every evening?).
Provide Feedback
Offer continual feedback to your caregiver about what is going well and what might need to be changed. This positive feedback will help your caregiver know what to do more of and when to adjust. This will also help to resolve issues if any are brought up.
Encourage Two-Way Communication
Make your caregiver feel safe sharing his or her thoughts and concerns. When you make the effort to do this, you both benefit. It helps build respect; you’d rather be seen as a force to reckon with than silent and brooding. And through respect, you allow your caregiver to be honest about what he or she can handle and can’t. When you do have a flare, it’s better to address it even before you ask why.
2. Set Clear Expectations
Outline Care Plans
Come up with a clear, written care plan that spells out the details of what the caregiver will be expected to do. This care plan should include specifics on daily routines, medication management, and medical needs so that the caregiver and care recipient have a written plan to follow.
Discuss Boundaries
Always enforce boundaries – this might seem obvious, but it’s not! You want to maintain a cool, respectful intellectual working relationship with your student, for instance stating that touching you will not be tolerated, and then adhering to that message without deviation.
3. Show Appreciation and Respect
Acknowledge Efforts
Recognize the caregiver and acknowledge his or her efforts to care for you: ‘You’re working hard, I appreciate it, thank you.’ Verbal expressions of recognition, especially as the care needs change, will go a long way to create goodwill. A simple ‘Thanks for helping. I know it’s hard,’ or even a thank-you note and a thoughtful gift can make someone feel valued.
Respect Their Expertise
respect the caregiver’s expertise and experience Allow a caregiver, especially a professional one, to do their job. Recognize their training and knowledge, and do not micromanage them or hover around them. Trust them to do their work.
4. Foster a Collaborative Relationship
Involve the Caregiver in Decision-Making
Where possible, ask for the contact details of the midwife, nurse, or ‘carer’ to keep her updated about the care plan and any changes made. This will help to generate trust and demonstrate that you value her opinion and ability to care.
Set Goals Together
Request that your care worker partner with you in setting goals around your well-being or care, including goal-directed plans that help achieve your goals and facilitate communication with other caregivers. Interestingly, involving care workers in goal-setting results in care that more closely reflects individuals’ needs and goals.
5. Provide Training and Resources
Offer Training
If you have special needs or preferences that call for a particular knowledge or skill, ask your caregiver to get some training or provide the necessary resources. Perhaps there’s information about how to manage a certain medical condition, or he or she needs to know how to use equipment or prepare certain kinds of meals.
Share Relevant Information
Make sure the caregiver has all of the relevant information about your medical conditions, the medications you are on, and whatever other aspects of your health and care your dentist deems important. This will allow your care
6. Build Personal Rapport
Get to Know Each Other
And paying attention – getting to know them on a personal level, by sharing your interests, hobbies, and anecdotes, so that your relationship feels that much more friendly.
Encourage Open Dialogue
Keep channels of communication open, and share some lighthearted banter to help build rapport and make your interactions more enjoyable.
7. Handle Conflicts Professionally
Address Issues Promptly
It is important to deal with problems or conflicts quickly and professionally. Do not ignore or grow mouldy problems, or the delivery of care can also take on a mouldy character.
Use Constructive Communication
How issues – constructive versus confrontational or blaming language as opposed to a language that seeks solutions; whether you approach problems with a problem-solving or a conflict-seeking frame of mind – these aspects of discourse are important to diffusing anger.
8. Support Their Well-Being
Recognize Their Needs
Accept that there will be caregiver stress and pressure. Details such as shift handovers, sharing a good anecdote about someone with dementia, and scheduling means of support for the caregiver are important. Giving the caregiver a small break or recognizing their work can make a difference. A person with dementia who receives attentive care will benefit from this emotionally.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
Finally, respect the boundaries of their private time. All these measures will help avoid the dreaded condition of compassion fatigue that can be a surefire way to losing a good career altogether.
9. Maintain Regular Check-Ins
Schedule Regular Meetings
Schedule a regular time to meet or check in, and talk about the care you’re giving – and receiving. Don’t wait until you’ve been through a really bad long night or you’ve been drained for months without a break – plan instead to do it every two weeks or so, or at regular intervals, such as after the baby’s six-week or 12-week check-up.
Evaluate Progress
Then, periodically, check to see that the care is still working and find the right combination so that you are both satisfied with this.
10. Be Patient and Understanding
Acknowledge Challenges
Accept that caring can be difficult and that you might not always get it right. Consider how to deal with any potential problems with a calm and open mind, and try to solve them collaboratively.
Provide Support
Remember to praise and give positive feedback to your caregiver, especially when it is difficult for you both. Being in a good relationship also requires giving support.
Having a mutually beneficial, productive, and sustainable relationship with your caregiver can pave the way for you to receive humane and competent care. Regular and clear communication about your needs and expectations, communication also about how to best perform the care work, and appreciation (celebrating all milestones) can go a long way to ensure a positive and productive caregiving relationship. Raising and dealing with conflicts professionally and civilly, ensuring that your caregiver’s well-being is a priority, and continuing to make time to check in about how she is delivering care and if the care meets your needs and expectations can lead to rewarding caregiving and care receiving experience.
Establishing a meaningful relationship can help both people feel better by improving the care you give and the way it feels to receive it. Now that you have a few tips to get you started, it can be a good time to give some thought to the power of connection, and how that can improve the Trust with caregiver, respect, and care between the two of you.
