It’s extremely common for family caregivers to experience high levels of stress. Caring for someone else’s health can be very difficult. Caregivers may worry they aren’t doing a good enough job, feel pressed for time, or feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities. Stress can have numerous negative effects on physical and mental health, so it’s important for you to take steps to relieve stress. Below are 4 ways for caregivers to de-stress.
#1: Spend Time with Friends
Taking time to be with friends and family members who make you laugh can make the stress fall away for a time. Plus, it helps you to maintain relationships outside of your caregiver duties. Those relationships are important because they give you people to lean on when you need help or support. Be careful to spend your time with people who are positive since being around negativity can make stress worse.
#2: Consider Hiring Help
You can hire a professional caregiver to come to the senior’s home and take care of them while you do other things. By contacting a home care agency, you can hire someone to spend a few hours per week with the senior or entire days or nights. By having home care help, family caregivers can spend more time with their spouses and children, focus more fully on work, or just take a nap.
#3: Take Time to Organize
When you don’t have important documents, the caregiving schedule, or your aging relative’s medical information in order, it can make you feel overwhelmed and out of control. Take some time to create a file to keep important information about the older adult’s medical information in so that if an emergency comes up or another caregiver needs to step in for a while, all of the information is in one place. Also, organize contact information for medical providers, family members, or others who are involved in the senior’s care. Finally, if you handle the older adult’s finances, set up online account access to make paying bills faster.
#4: Pamper Yourself
Taking a day now and then, or even just a few hours, to do something nice just for yourself can help you to relax. Go get a massage. Get your nails done. Get a facial. Go to a movie. Or, just soak in a bathtub for a while. Whatever makes you feel good and relaxes you, find the time to go do it.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Senior Care in Orinda, CA, call the caring staff at Aviva In-Home Care. Call today: (415) 795-2203
Sources
Womenshealth.gov
Mayoclinic.org
Helpguide.org
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