Being a caregiver is a big commitment, especially since you never know how long your senior is going to need your help. Making sure that you’re prepared for caregiving is essential. That means lining up assistance and taking care of yourself, too.
Work through Your Emotions
How you process your emotions matters so much more as a caregiver than you might think. There’s a lot that happens and that affects how you feel about everything involved. If you don’t have a way to deal with what are valid feelings, you’re going to try to bottle them up or ignore them, and that’s a recipe for disaster. Talk to a friend or a therapist, or simply write in your journal. But don’t ignore your feelings.
Focus on Self-Care
Taking the best care of yourself that you possibly can is one of the best ways for you to ensure that you’re going to be able to care for your senior for a long period of time. When you’re in the best condition that you can be in, with appropriate rest, a proper diet, and everything else you need, you’re better able to face the challenges that caregiving brings.
Stay on Top of Stress and Triggers
Keeping track of your stress levels is a lot easier once you’re processing your emotions properly and you’re caring for yourself well. That allows you to see which situations are creating havoc for you and to put solutions in place that resolve those issues. This is a really big part of helping you to be the caregiver that you really want to be.
Look for Ways to Outsource When You Can
Lots of people, caregivers included, assume that caregivers have to do everything themselves. If you believe that too, that can contribute to your stress levels. Having some help is incredibly freeing and it gives you a chance to think about what all needs to be handled. Senior care providers can be incredibly helpful in taking over tasks that are routine and they can help you to resolve other issues as they crop up, too.
Your senior’s situation may require you to approach these ideas a little bit differently, but these tips can still be helpful. Anything that allows you to have a little bit of space and energy when you wouldn’t otherwise have that can be incredibly important for you and for your elderly family member.
