Balancing long-distance care giving with your life, career, and sanity

Stephanie Chan does a great job describing the multiple lifelines necessary to support someone who lives miles away--while staying sane yourself.

We have a 103+ YO uncle who lives many states away (his adamant choice), still in his own home. Yes, he still loves his cocktail hour and is sharp as a tack; in fact, we migrated him from Win 7 to Win 10 when he was 101. Particularly because he is very hard of hearing, email remains his lifeline to his beloved friends and family.

And he’s failing, of course. Slowly, but it can’t be missed. The emergencies are closer together. He’s been on hospice (really, palliative care) for several years. I have his medical POA, another sister has his overall POA. We’re both very active keeping track of him and taking care of him from two different states than his.

This recent post on LinkedIn caught my attention. Stephanie Chan is the founder of myCareBase and has been an eldercare planner and facilitator since 2007. While she is located in Canada, her advice works anywhere. IMO, 80% of keeping a loved one as safe and healthy as possible from miles away is coordinating with the non-provider supports around them, and Stephanie describes that well. Her LinkedIn post is a great guide for those in similar situations.