The caregiver is someone who provides care for a person, usually a family member who is ill. This designated caregiver has high expectations placed upon him or her to provide good care and watch out for the safety of the person needing care. Typically, caregivers render care in a home setting, though sometimes, the burdens of care convince caregivers and their families to turn to an assisted living or dementia care community setting.
Caregivers need to maintain their health and ability to serve the care receiver, so it’s important that they acquire the skills and knowledge needed to do this important job well. Experts in caregiving recommend a number of strategies that can help relieve caregiver role strain, which is defined as a situation when caregivers find it hard to perform their roles or feel stressed by situations that can include financial difficulties, too much added responsibility, family life adjustments and significant role changes.
By dealing with caregiver strain, there are a number of positive outcomes for caregivers:
-
more competence and confidence in their ability to perform the caregiving role;
-
satisfaction with their role as primary caregiver to a loved one;
-
positive feelings about the care recipient and their ongoing relationship;
-
ability to utilize resources and internal/external sources of strength to effectively manage caregiver stress;
-
flexibility in dealing with difficult behavior from the care receiver.
4 steps to relieve caregiver stress:
- Identify available family and friends who can assist with caregiving. Experts note that successful caregiving should never be the sole job of just one person, though too often this happens because family members don’t want to ask others in the family for help, due to ongoing family issues. If family can’t be relied upon, primary caregivers should seek out help from friends, clergy, or others they trust. The takeaway point here, as the old saying goes, is this: “No man is an island.” Caregivers must reach out for help so they get some down time for themselves to recharge their batteries.
- Make caregiver health and wellness a daily priority. Too often, caregivers neglect their own well-being as their focus turns to taking care of a beloved spouse or other family member. This self-neglect can cause increased illness, loss of physical strength that makes caregiver duties even harder, and potentially, hospitalization. Caregivers must do the following to maintain their health:
- Get plenty of sleep
- Exercise regularly
- Eat healthy meals everyday – fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plenty of water are important. Avoid excess alcohol consumption.
- Continue to enjoy hobbies and activities that were important before becoming the primary caregiver.
- Learn how to do simple stretching exercises to relieve tension and help maintain muscle tone.
- Focus on the power of spirituality and the benefits of laughter in maintaining a sense of well-being and control.
- Find an individual or support group. When former caregivers were asked for their thoughts about how to manage caregiver stress, this tip was high on their list. Caregivers need to be able to communicate their feelings, frustrations and anxieties with others who understand the situation.
- Be flexible and realistic. If the care receiver has a progressive disease such as dementia/Alzheimer’s, it’s imperative that caregivers recognize the limits of what their efforts can accomplish. It’s also important to be honest about their own capabilities and flexible enough to make changes to better cope with caregiver demands.
Let our experts in dementia care help relieve your caregiver stress. How can we help?
{{cta(’42f819b2-e3bd-44a1-906d-f57c329152a8′)}}