As the calendar moves into January, it’s common to think about New Year’s resolutions. If you’re a family caregiver who’s looking after an aging in place senior, making a list of caregiving resolutions can help you more efficiently balance your responsibilities with a household, spouse, children and job.
The holidays can be a hectic time of year, but when you’re trying to make all those last-minute preparations while also looking after an aging in place elderly loved one, you can find yourself feeling completely overwhelmed. Being a member of the “sandwich generation” during the holidays can ratchet up your stress level to the point that it places your health and wellbeing at risk.
Serving as a family caregiver for an aging in place elderly loved one is highly rewarding, but it can also be very hectic and exhausting at times. As a result, it’s not uncommon for a family caregiver to start developing negative feelings towards the senior they’re caring for. If those emotions are not promptly addressed, they can not only adversely affect a caregiver’s health and wellbeing, but also that of their loved one. Fortunately, working through negative feelings as a caregiver is possible by taking these steps.
For the past 6 months, you’ve been taking care of your aging in place elderly mother. Your siblings live nearby but so far, they’ve been “MIA” when it comes to mom’s care. At first everything was going well, but now you’re starting to feel the stress of being a primary caregiver who’s also juggling a part-time job and household. Fortunately, there are several reliable ways to involve your siblings in a loved one’s care, starting with these.
For the past 6 months you’ve been providing some daily living assistance to your aging in place elderly mother. But with your own busy household and part-time job to manage, the added workload and stress are starting to wear you down. Your adult brothers and sisters all live nearby, but thus far they’ve been “MIA” when it comes to helping-out mom. What should you do?
For almost a year now you’ve been taking care of your aging in place elderly father. But trying to balance caregiving with your own job and household is starting to wear you down. In fact, it’s now reached a point where your kids and boss are starting to complain that you’re not giving them the attention they deserve. If things don’t change, dad’s health and wellbeing, along with your own, could be placed in jeopardy.
Countless family caregivers get hurt annually while assisting heavier loved ones, and back injuries and falls are common. Patient lifts are a great way to help both caregivers and patients avoid injuries, and are widely used at hospitals and nursing homes to ensure worker and care recipient safety.
You’ve started questioning your caregiving approach, and feel your emotional “fuse” getting shorter and shorter. It feels like one of these days your temper is going to explode, and you know that you’ll regret it afterwards. What should you do? Here are some effective ways to diffuse caregiver anger before it causes a serious blowup.
Every year, millions of family members serve as caregivers for elderly loved ones who are aging in place at home, usually a parent. But the physical and emotional demands of caregiving can become overwhelming, especially when the senior’s health is in decline. Over time, stress can cause caregiver fatigue, notably if the caregiver has their own household to manage.
Guilt is a common emotion experienced by family caregivers who are providing at least some care for a senior who’s independently aging in place at home, usually their parent. Those feelings tend to intensify when that caregiver lives far away from their elderly loved one, a condition referred to as “remote caregiver guilt”.
