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| Support for Caregivers |
| Tracey Cousineau, LSW-C, Outreach Manager |
| 08/30/2007 |
Being a caregiver can be extremely lonely and frustrating, but care giving can also be filled with a rich sense of closeness and satisfaction that you are doing your best to help your loved one. Caregivers are also faced with many emotional, physical and financial responsibilities while caring for others and often experience caregiver burden or burnout.
Here are a few things that may assist you while taking care of
your loved one and yourself:
Get Support from Family and friends - Our culture emphasizes independence, so it is not always easy to ask for help. The truth is that caregivers who get help and support from family and friends tend to feel less stress. Establish Your Limits - You have the right to set limits on what you will do. It’s all right to say no. Providing care at the expense of your mental and physical health or relationships with other family members does not benefit anyone.
Join a Support Group - Caregivers who are supported by others have a feeling of being loved and cared for. They also gain practical help with care giving tasks, house-work or errands. As a result of this support, caregivers are better able to solve problems and to prevent difficult situations from getting worse. Most people benefit from sharing their feelings with someone who is supportive and listens without judging. Support groups can help caregivers feel less isolated and build strong bonds of mutual help and friendship.
Eastern Agency on Aging offers a caregiver support group in
Lincoln 1:30 – 2:30 on the 1st
Wednesday of the month at the Ballard Hill Community Center, Contact
Dottie VanHorn at 941-2865 ext 110, and Colonial Health Care in Lincoln
offers an Alzheimer’s support group on Thursdays at 1:00 Pm on the 2nd
Thursday of the month, contact Verna Boyington at 794-6543.
Seek Out Respite Care
- Respite care provides a structured opportunity for a caregiver to
be relieved of his or her care giving duties for a period of time.
This may be for three or four hours a week, or maybe even longer.
Respite care may be a person who comes into your home to tend to
the person needing care while you are away or the older person is taken
to another location, where he/she is cared for.
Respite programs are sponsored by in-home service organizations,
nursing homes, and the Eastern Area Agencies on Aging.
Keep good records
– Care giving requires the use of many services.
Working with service providers, insurance companies and others is
often confusing and time-consuming.
Keep track of contacts and information with notes as you talk in
person or over the telephone.
Keep brochures and other information provided by organizations
and agencies. Keep copies of
letters you write regarding services, as well as those you receive.
Ask lots of questions.
Maintain Good Health - One of the most important things a
caregiver can do is to take care of themselves:
Eat nutritious foods - food is fuel for your body.
Eating poorly or skipping meals reduces energy and puts you at
risk for health problems.
Get exercise and rest - physical activity reduces stress and
improves health. Bicycling,
walking or swimming are good outlets and, in the long run, prevent
serious health problems.
Sound sleep refreshes and enables caregivers to function well during the
day.
Make time for yourself - set aside time on a regular basis to
be alone, take a walk, exercise or just have quiet time, even for a
short period. You will be
more productive and have more energy.
Take time to be with friends or to do things that you enjoy.
This will help you be a more relaxed caregiver and prevent you
from “burning out.”
Accepting Your Feelings - Care giving is a difficult and sometimes unrewarding job. Caregivers experience a range of feelings that may be confusing and upsetting but these feelings are normal. Feelings of anger, frustration or helplessness do not mean that you, as a caregiver, love your relative less. Recognizing and accepting all these feelings are necessary steps in reducing stress and preventing physical and emotional problems.
Beware of Stress -
Caregivers sometimes expect too much of themselves. The first step
toward managing stress is to be aware of it.
Do you have any of these symptoms?
Headaches, digestive upsets, depression, fatigue,
anxiety, boredom, insomnia, crying spells, confusion, weight change,
irritability, mood swings, lethargy, forgetfulness, poor concentration,
low productivity, negative attitude, tight neck and shoulder
muscles, increased use of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. If so, you may
want to talk with a health care provider.
Seek Professional Guidance - You should consider
seeking professional guidance under the following circumstances:
You find yourself using alcohol or drugs to forget your
problems, relieve stress, fall asleep or get yourself going in the
morning
You become depressed.
You don’t understand your family member’s behavior or don’t
know how to deal with specific care tasks
You find yourself feeling resentment or losing emotional
control, or neglecting, humiliating or becoming physically rough with a
family member
You are being physically or emotionally abused by your
impaired family member
Your family cannot resolve problems or reach agreement on care
decisions
You feel a conflict between care giving and other
responsibilities.