If you haven’t thought much about self-care habits for yourself as a caregiver, now might be the time to make a change. Positive self-care habits can dramatically improve your experience as a caregiver and can improve your senior’s quality of life, too.
Examine Your Emotions
It might seem easier as a caregiver to ignore what you’re feeling, especially when those emotions seem to be on the negative side. But ignoring emotions never works because those feelings are still there, whether you acknowledge them or not. What you can do instead is to acknowledge them and examine why you’re feeling the way you are. That’s going to help you to work through those feelings.
Eat Regular, Healthy Meals
You probably spend a lot of time planning and preparing meals for your aging family member. But how much attention are you paying to what and to when you eat? Your body needs fuel or it’s not going to be running at the highest capacity. Your brain needs fuel, too. Make sure you’re eating as healthfully as you can.
Set up an Appointment with Your Doctor
Doctor’s appointments are another area in which caregivers sometimes don’t do what they recommend for others. If you’re not making appointments at all or you’re canceling and rescheduling way too often, you might need to reconsider. When you’re seeing your own doctor regularly, you can spot situations with your health quickly and take steps to either reverse the situation or manage it effectively.
Ask for and Receive Help
It’s really tough to be a caregiver. It’s even more difficult if you don’t have help as much as you would like. Chances are that you have more opportunities to get help from the people in your life than you realize. The catch is often that you have to actually ask for help or pay attention and accept when help is offered to you.
Take Time Away from Caregiving
The single most important thing you can do for yourself as a caregiver, even if everything else seems impossible, is to take time away. Letting elder care providers take over for you, even for just a few hours a week, can help you to remain a caregiver for a longer period of time than if you don’t. Respite time should be at the top of your self-care list.
Self-care is tough for a lot of caregivers. But if you stick to the basics and make sure you’re truly taking care of yourself, it pays off in big ways.
If you are considering elder care in Jonesville, FL, for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Touching Hearts Home Care. Call today: 352-225-3727.
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