5 Self-Care Tips for Caregivers
Caregivers are an important part of any care facility or at-home service. However, sometimes there’s such heavy focus on their duties that those providing care forget to also give adequate care to themselves.
In an effort to do the best they can for their senior counterparts, most caregivers skip meals, suffer sleep depravation, and much more. Even though we understand the drive behind their need to be there for their patients, you can help others best when you first help yourself.
Here are five self-care tips for all those awesome caregivers in our lives.
1: Assess and Reduce Your Own Personal Stress
There’s more than just our daily jobs involved in our lives. Sometimes we have the added stress of children, their homework, our spouses and their stress, just to name a few things. Find ways to reduce that excess stress in your life or counteract it. Counting or breathing exercises, yoga, and even just a quiet evening can help absolve some of the crazy additional stress you may experience in addition to work.
2: Try and Get Adequate Sleep
Even if your schedule doesn’t allow those eight hours at night, you can find holes in the day to take a nice power nap. Sometimes a 30-60 minute nap can make all the difference in your fatigue. Although it is recommended that you go to bed early so that you can get your recommended amount of sleep, grabbing some much-needed rest when you can is also a decent alternative.
3: Eat a Good Breakfast
When you’re in rush and bustling, often times you do not grab the best foods. Doughnuts, bagels, and other empty calories cause you to crash and be exhausted throughout the day. Groggy caregivers aren’t exactly performing up to snuff. So try chowing down on some power foods in the morning. Dried fruits and granola, an avocado, some fresh fruit, or even a smoothie are great healthy options to kick off your morning right.
4: Take a Break
Its great to be dedicated to your job and to your tasks, but there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself some personal time. In many professions, even those people are passionate about, it is recommended to take a break every now and then. Get someone who can help you out with tasks like bathing and meal prep, and go do something that makes you happy. Perhaps there’s an old hobby you can break out or a place you haven’t visited in a while. Give yourself some time to recuperate.
5: Get Support
Sometimes it’s definitely easier to talk to someone else who’s also in the profession. Not only are they able to lend an ear to the qualms you may be facing, but they’re also able to offer their own tips as to how to manage your day and schedule better.
To find support groups in the Greater Miami Area please visit this website http://www.alz.org/seflorida/in_my_community_19291.asp and it will provide you with a list of numbers and facilities which can be of assistance to you.
Many home care services, such as the ones that we provide, make it a priority to emphasize wellbeing of their caregivers. Their health and happiness is what makes our services highly recommended. Click here to read some of our testimonials or give us a call for a free consult at (786) 497-7068.
Reference articles:
By focusing so diligently on your loved one’s needs, it’s easy to fall into the trap of neglecting your own health. But that will not only hurt yourself, but also hurt the person you’re trying to care for. If you’re not getting the physical and emotional support you need, you won’t be able to provide the best level of care, and you face becoming overwhelmed. (n.d.). Support for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers. Retrieved September 09, 2016, from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/caregiving/support-for-alzheimers-and-dementia-caregivers.htm
Miami-Dade | Alzheimer’s Association. (n.d.). Retrieved September 09, 2016, from http://www.alz.org/seflorida/in_my_community_19291.asp
Taking Care of YOU: Self-Care for Family Caregivers. (n.d.). Retrieved September 09, 2016, from https://www.caregiver.org/taking-care-you-self-care-family-caregivers
