Archived Issue: November 2009
In This Issue
Ask the Experts
Celebrate Alzheimer's Awareness Month
Caregiver Stress Tips
Ask the Experts
A free service to seniors and their loved ones.
Have a question relating to health, wellness, or caregiver stress?
As our commitment to seniors and their family's nation wide, we're connecting you to two eldercare experts to help answer all your senior care questions.
Whether it's about how to care for your senior loved one or just to get a better understanding of all the options available to seniors...just ask! Our experts have the answer.
Celebrate Alzheimer's Awareness Month
We understand that each seniors' circumstances can be unique. Our innovative approach for Alzheimer's and memory care, Join Their Journey® encompasses many components that provide us the ability to meet each resident's and family's needs at each stage of the disease process.
Does your loved one...
- Have trouble remembering names of people, places or events?
- Forget to take medications?
- Experience difficulty solving simple problems?
- Often misplace or lose personal items?
- Spend most of their time alone?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, it may be time to seek care.
Caregiver Stress Tips
If you're currently experiencing caregiver stress, try the following caregiver survival tips to relieve stress.
- Work Out:
- Meditate:
- Ask for Help:
- Take a Break:
- Eat Well:
- Take Care of Yourself:
- Indulge:
- Find Support:
Excercise and enjoy something you like to do (walking, dancing, biking, running, swimming, etc.) for a minimum of 20 minutes at least three times per week. Consider learning a stress-management excercise such as yoga or tai-chi, which teaches inner balance and relaxation.
Sit still and breathe deeply with your mind as "quiet" as possible whenever things feel like they are moving too quickly or you are feeling overwhelmed by your responsibilities as a caregiver. Many times you will feel like you don't even have a minute to yourself, but it's important to walk away and to take that minute.
To avoid burnout and stress, you can enlist the help of other family members, friends, and/or consider hiring a professional non-medical caregiver for assistance. There is no need to feel guilty for reaching out.
Make arrangements for any necessary fill-in help (family, friends, volunteers or professional caregivers). Take single days, a weekend, or even a week's vacation; just make sure you line up your support system so you can be confident that your loved one is safe and happy. And when you're away, stay away. Talk about different things, read that book you haven't been able to get to, see a movie. Only a real break will renew and refresh you.
Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins - including nuts and beans - and whole grains. Indulging in caffeine, fast food and sugar as quick "pick-me-ups" also produce quick "let-downs."
Just like you make sure your loved one gets to the doctor regularly, make sure you get your annual check-up. Being a caregiver provides many excuses for skipping your necessary check-ups, but you cannot and should not compromise your health.
Treat yourself to a foot massage, manicure, nice dinner out or a concert to take yourself away from the situation and to reward yourself for the wonderful care you are providing to your aging relative. You shouldn't feel guilty about wanting to feel good.
Find a local caregiver support group, which will help you understand that what you are feeling and experiencing is normal for someone in your position. This is a place to get practical advice from people who are in your situation and to bounce off those feelings of stress, since everyone is likely to be in the same situation and can empathize.
This Senior Living Answer was published on November 2, 2009.
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