When Was the Last Time You Focused on Yourself?

What is self-care? Quite simply, it’s taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical health. Family caregivers often focus so much on others that they forget to care for themselves. Let home care be part of your self-care.

To raise awareness of the need for self-care, July 24th is designated International Self-Care Day. It’s time to look at when you last took care of yourself and let someone else take care of your dad for the day.

Things to Do for Self-Care

What do you do to practice self-care? Start by scheduling days off once a week or as often as you need. Step away for a day so that you have time to yourself. Go to a spa, sleep in, or stay in pajamas and read all day. Here are some of the most important things to do regarding self-care.

1. Book a Vacation

You might want to take several days off and go on a vacation. Book a hotel, rent a vacation home, and get away with friends, your significant other, or your children. If you love the beach, book a beach vacation. If you’d rather be in the city, do that.

2. Visit Friends

Visit your friends. You haven’t seen them in months. Make reservations for your favorite restaurant and catch up. If they’d prefer to get together in someone’s home, offer to host a gathering in your home. Make or buy appetizers, beverages, and desserts and enjoy a night together watching movies, chatting, or playing games.

3. Catch Up on Doctor’s Visits

Have you seen your doctor lately? Make the appointment and get caught up on blood tests, scans, and exams. If you haven’t had a colonoscopy yet and are 45 or older, get that exam scheduled. Do the same for exams like mammograms, skin cancer checks with a dermatologist, and dilated eye exams.

If you haven’t seen your dentist in a while, make an appointment and get caught up. It may make you anxious, but it’s essential. You don’t want something terrible to happen and need emergency care.

How to Arrange Services From a Home Care Agency

Finding someone to take over for a day or two is difficult for an only child. You don’t have the assistance of siblings. Even if there is a more prominent family, they may not live nearby. There’s another option that ensures you have time off.

Look into home care services. Call a specialist and ask about respite care services and how they enable you to take a day off. A home care agency can arrange to have caregivers take over now and then so that you get a break.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring home care services in San Mateo, CA, call the caring staff at Aviva In-Home Care. Call today: (415) 795-2203

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Evan Loevner

CEO at Aviva In-Home Care

As a former hospital administrator, I launched Aviva with the goal of having a more focused, direct impact on the delivery of care than I could ever accomplish within a hospital setting. For me, the joy of running an organization like Aviva In-Home Care is having the ability to positively improve the lives of individuals needing customized care. As a passionate Bay Area resident, I know that many local seniors can benefit from new approaches to in-home care, that will bring them more connection to the community, and provide families with a greater sense of comfort that their loved one is indeed matched with an ideal caregiver.

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