Caring For The Caregivers

As a caregiver, we understand that balancing caregiving and personal responsibilities can lead to various physical and emotional challenges. To provide the best care, it’s essential to find a balance and prioritize your health. Here are some tips to help you become the best caregiver possible.

Recognize the Signs

Your loved one may not always communicate when something is wrong, so it’s crucial to observe even the smallest changes. Instead of getting frustrated, see these actions as indications that something might be wrong. Signs include bruises, scratches, pain complaints, hygiene decline, frequent falls, weight loss, medication mismanagement, missed bill payments, poor judgment, sudden anxiety, confusion, and vision/hearing/balance problems.

Manage Stress

Caregiver stress symptoms include anger, anxiety, declining health, depression, guilt, and exhaustion. Stress can cause high blood pressure, diabetes, compromised immunity, and fatigue. To avoid these effects, approach your role one step at a time, plan getaways, attend seminars/classes, join support groups, vent through journaling, maintain a sense of humor, and pursue your interests.

Accept Help

It’s essential to ask for help when the financial burden becomes unmanageable, care needs exceed your abilities, physical demands are too much, personal/professional relationships suffer, you feel overwhelmed, or your health is declining.

Keep a Caregiver Checklist

A caregiver checklist is useful during emergencies. Keep an accessible copy that includes a medication list, emergency contacts, health conditions, living will/DNR, extra house/car keys’ location, physician/hospital preferences, pet care, power of attorney, early notification program registration, and secondary caregiver contact.

At AmeriChoice, we care for our caregivers as much as we care for our clients. We believe that they are the backbone of our agency and that compromising their health and wellness can exhaust them, which then creates a domino effect in our service. Caregivers cannot give when they, too, are depleted, hence, we encourage our team to always look after themselves, too.

If you have any queries or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us.