{"id":10022,"date":"2017-09-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.philips.com\/resources\/blog\/2014\/09\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know.html"},"modified":"2025-11-17T16:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:20:00","slug":"long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

As your parents age, they may require more assistance<\/a>. This can be stressful for anyone \u2014 but if you live hundreds of miles away, the stress can seem overwhelming. Often, moving closer just isn\u2019t an option, as family and work obligations may keep you tied down far from your ailing loved one. Though it may seem impossible, you can certainly achieve a balance among caring for your family<\/a>, maintaining your career, and ensuring the health and safety of your parents.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips to help you tackle the challenges of long-distance caregiving:<\/h2>\n

Manage Expectations<\/h3>\n

<\/b>Whether you live across the street or across the country, caregiving is hard. It can cause anxiety<\/a>, consume more time than you thought possible, and quickly demolish a budget. If you live far from your aging loved one, it may not be practical or financially feasible<\/a> to visit him frequently. Your family and career<\/a> at home may keep you from being there for him, which can cause undue feelings of guilt. This, paired with the usual stresses of caregiving<\/a>, can be overwhelming for many adult children.<\/p>\n

Accept that it is normal to feel guilty. Every caregiver wishes she could provide all the care necessary, and those guilty feelings are the result of you requiring more of yourself than you can give. Instead, accept that in order to ensure your loved one gets the best care possible, you will need outside help.<\/p>\n

Take Action<\/h3>\n

There are a number of ways you can participate in long-distance caregiving<\/a> from afar. If your loved one is still living at home<\/a>, coordinate services to help around the house or with medical needs. You can also look into options for transportation and local groups that visit homebound seniors. By helping your parent or loved one find assistance, you can ensure that she is safe and mobile without having to be present daily.<\/p>\n

When you do visit, introduce yourself to your loved one\u2019s neighbors and friends<\/a>. These are the people who serve as her companions, and they can keep an eye on her when you\u2019re back at home. You\u2019ll also want to get their contact information in case you cannot get in touch with your loved one.<\/p>\n

Use Others\u2019 Experiences to Your Advantage<\/h3>\n

Many tips for\u00a0caregivers\u00a0are universally applicable; others, though, are unique to long-distance caregiving. Among the many resources available for caregivers<\/a> are the\u00a0National Institute on Aging\u00a0and the\u00a0Mayo Clinic, both of which offer tips and guidance specifically for caregivers who live an hour or more away from their aging loved ones.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Eldercare Locator\u00a0is a great resource for long-distance caregivers<\/a> who are just getting started. This site features a search engine that helps identify local community services specifically for seniors. By searching for agencies and services in your loved one\u2019s neighborhood, you can locate help for him even when you\u2019re in another state.<\/p>\n

Long-distance caregiving is overwhelming. You may feel pulled in several directions at once, and struggle to know where you are needed most. By relying on these tips, you can open your loved one to a world of resources that enable him to feel mobile, independent, and safe \u2014 and help you maintain your peace of mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caregiving"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLong-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know | Lifeline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lifeline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LifelineMedicalAlertService\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-17T20:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Bastin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Bastin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Andrew Bastin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50ab178d15853031ee06af6ad13f46e5\"},\"headline\":\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-17T20:20:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Caregiving\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\",\"name\":\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know | Lifeline\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-17T20:20:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1366,\"caption\":\"Family and friends doing a video conference on laptop at home\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Lifeline\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lifeline\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Lifeline_Only_logo_2014_Blue.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Lifeline_Only_logo_2014_Blue.png\",\"width\":1295,\"height\":444,\"caption\":\"Lifeline\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LifelineMedicalAlertService\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/lifelinesystems\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50ab178d15853031ee06af6ad13f46e5\",\"name\":\"Andrew Bastin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65dff837df063ee7c546f0036c42fc8bbba00fa9ef42d32433fb5232580416f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65dff837df063ee7c546f0036c42fc8bbba00fa9ef42d32433fb5232580416f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Bastin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know | Lifeline","description":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know","og_description":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/","og_site_name":"Lifeline","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LifelineMedicalAlertService","article_published_time":"2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-17T20:20:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1366,"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrew Bastin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Bastin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"author":{"name":"Andrew Bastin","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50ab178d15853031ee06af6ad13f46e5"},"headline":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know","datePublished":"2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-17T20:20:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"wordCount":544,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg","articleSection":["Caregiving"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/","name":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know | Lifeline","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg","datePublished":"2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-17T20:20:00+00:00","description":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know. You can read more useful articles and advice on our blog.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Family-on-video-call.jpg","width":2048,"height":1366,"caption":"Family and friends doing a video conference on laptop at home"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/blog\/long-distance-caregiving-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Long-Distance Caregiving: What You Need to Know"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/","name":"Lifeline","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#organization","name":"Lifeline","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Lifeline_Only_logo_2014_Blue.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Lifeline_Only_logo_2014_Blue.png","width":1295,"height":444,"caption":"Lifeline"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LifelineMedicalAlertService","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/lifelinesystems\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50ab178d15853031ee06af6ad13f46e5","name":"Andrew Bastin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65dff837df063ee7c546f0036c42fc8bbba00fa9ef42d32433fb5232580416f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65dff837df063ee7c546f0036c42fc8bbba00fa9ef42d32433fb5232580416f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andrew Bastin"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10022"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40736,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10022\/revisions\/40736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}