What Happens when the Family Caregiver is only Motivated by Money?

Caregivers in Woolwich Township, NJ – When Money is the only Motivation, it’s Time to Hire Home Care Services

After high school, Denise didn’t want to go to college. She figured that she would be able to find a well paying job to support yourself within a year. That didn’t work out so well and when the opportunity arose for her to be a caregiver for her grandmother, she jumped at the chance to earn some extra money.

For Denise, it was all about the money. Her parents agreed to pay her a specific amount of money every week to provide home care for her grandmother on a daily basis. She was even given the opportunity to live in her grandmother’s home rent-free, which she agreed to.

The major problem.

This created a situation in which Denise’s grandmother wasn’t actually receiving the quality of care that she required. Denise’s grandmother had a stroke recently and struggled to take care of herself. She had lost a significant portion of the use of the left side of her body and needed assistance getting into and out of the shower as well as going to the bathroom.

Within the first week, Denise’s grandmother had called her daughter (Denise’s mother) to tell her that she wasn’t really getting much help or support from Denise. The grandmother explained that Denise was spending most of her time texting or talking on the phone or going out. She didn’t know where she was going or when she would come back. This left the elderly patient without a caregiver, essentially.

For Denise, the only motivation that she had to help her grandmother was money. Since she was getting money every week from her parents, she didn’t see the responsibility that she actually had. She wasn’t concerned about the safety and well-being of her grandmother. She was concerned about getting the money and going out and having fun with her friends. She was 21 at that time and had little sense of responsibility.

When you have a family member who is motivated only by money when they agree to be an in-home care provider, this can pose a couple of problems. The most significant one is that the patient may not receive the quality of care that he or she deserves or needs.

Being a caregiver to an elderly individual is something that requires an incredible amount of compassion and patience. Someone who is focused only on the money, especially a family member, may have trouble understanding the true importance of the job.

If you are planning on paying a family member to care for an elderly loved one, explain the importance of this job. If they can’t understand it or you find that they are not living up to expectations or they are putting the elderly individual at a greater risk, consider hiring a professional caregiver.