Adeste In-Home Care - Colorado

In-Home Care in Colorado

Creating Your Plan For Self Care Before and After Caregiving

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The person you are providing care for has a plan. They have medication to take, doctors to see, tests to take. They live by a daily regiment.

They have a plan … do you?

Or is your plan more of a reaction to everything you do each day to help the person you are caring for? If so, it’s time to change.

You need a plan that focuses in on your well-being. If you don’t take care of self first, you’ll have less to give back to the person you are caring for. We define your self care this way:

Support comes from building a support system all around you
Energy comes from your food, your exercise, your breaks
Love comes from within, from your relationships, and from what you give to the world
Flourish comes from your ability to be grateful for today and remain curious and upbeat about your future

Do you see yourself in any of those statements? Do you see where you need work?

By establishing a self care plan, you’ll add your thoughts about the process and journey you’re on every day. This will include what works for you, what you do to help the person you’re caring for, and whatever else impacts each day.

Use this as your template. Have fun and make your self care plan uniquely your own. Keep it online if that’s your thing. Or buy a fancy journal and write it down each day.

My self care plan focuses on SELF: [Read more…]

Now What? Rebuilding After Caregiving

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It’s a $450 billion industry, contributing billions of hours to the US economy each year. What is it? It’s the unpaid healthcare market. Yet because it’s unpaid, it’s one of the most unfocused.

It takes a lot of time, effort, and financial obligations to take care of the people we love the most. Family caregivers are at the core. To provide a level of care and comfort our loved ones need, caregivers continue to sacrifice a great deal from both their personal and professional lives. Careers aren’t the only thing impacted; it hurts our relationships, our finances, our health, even our spiritual needs are often left unattended in the interest of providing the ultimate in care. Over time, it often becomes a core part of the caregiver’s identity.

But what happens when caregiving ends?

When a caregiver’s life has been consumed by the needs of another, a lot of turmoil can occur following the death of the care recipient. How do you refocus on your own life when your life hasn’t been your own for so long?

It can feel a little selfish at first. Instead of putting your energy outward and onto someone else’s needs, you have the time to devote to yourself. Where do you begin? How do you handle the grief and the emotions surrounding coming back to terms with yourself? [Read more…]

What Are Caregivers Biggest Concerns?

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As a family caregiver, it’s easy to think you’re all alone. Rest assured many other people are facing the same challenges as you.

According to the National Family Caregivers Association, there are more than 65 million family caregivers providing care to their loved ones. And many of them face a significant and sustained burden of care. One-half will be in the caregiving role for more than five years. One-third care for more than one person.

And they face three significant challenges every day.

They are concerned with their own health

Family caregivers report that their own health care tops the list as a concern. [Read more…]

The Caregiving Journey: Keeping A Road Map

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All throughout our lives, we start new journeys over and over again. It’s what makes us human. It’s what adds to our creativity and adventure.

Some we plan for and can’t wait to begin. Marriage, starting a new job, having kids: they all give us a sense the best is yet to come.

But caregiving doesn’t come with those same sensory expectations. We dread the process. Sometimes we ignore the signs, not wanting to face reality until it’s necessary.

Yet it’s all a part of the journey. It’s called life. And as a caregiver, the more aware you are over what you’ll be experiencing together with your loved one, the more you’ll be able to navigate it positively. Once you focus in on the caregiving experience, and look at it as a journey, you can identify pitfalls and what it will take to improve them.

Creating The Path

While it might sound like a difficult thing to do, if you define your goals and create a vision of the experience ahead of you, it can change your approach to caregiving. It will help you refine each step along the path as you enter new stages.

With everything you will be facing, there are others that have been there too. While no two journeys are ever the same, you can find guidance to help you along the way. For instance, with Alzheimer’s, there are several stages a person will experience over time. The more you can learn about the process, the more you can plan for each stage. Reaching out for help to understand more and come to terms with each stage will help your journey.

Overcome The Roadblocks

Creating your map is only the first part of the process. It’s the starting point for understanding and improving the journey. A map can be a guide making suggestions along the way. A map can tell you when you need to take side roads to get the job done. It can also help you reach out for help by giving you clues to what comes next in the process. You no longer become the bad guy in some cases – the map helps to confirm what’s next in the process.

Update your findings every day. It gives you a resource to refer back to again and again. Detailed feedback helps you identify gaps and obstacles you’ve already faced, and can help trigger things that worked (or didn’t work) in the past. Which allows you to update your map and refine your process over and over again.

You’ll gradually smooth out your processes and approach, and become more comfortable with every task, every day.

What Do Caregivers Really Need To Know

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There are two different kinds of caregivers: family caregivers and paid caregivers.

In most cases, families start out by caring for their loved one on their own. It may start with little chores as your loved one’s health and abilities begin to decline. Or it may come all at once, in the case of illness, accident, or surgery.

But the longer you are involved in providing care for your loved one, the more you’ll start to discover you need a little bit of help along the way. That’s where paid caregivers come into the picture. That’s where in-home caregiving can help.

But it’s not as simple as finding someone online, inserting your credit card numbers, and having someone show up at your door. Imagine needing someone who can help lift your loved one, and they don’t have the physical strength to do it, for example. That can be frustrating at best. [Read more…]

7 Rights You Have As A Caregiver

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I have to take what she dishes out. I’m her caregiver.

She’s not who she used to be. She’s suffering with this disease. I have to support her no matter what.

He doesn’t mean to do this. It’s a part of the process.

Have you ever thought or made a statement like one of these? Caregiving can be the most difficult job you’ll ever have to do. And occasionally it can be a fairly rough road.

Many assume they have to stick with it, day after day, no matter what their loved one dishes out. They are the primary caregiver. But don’t forget that you have rights too. It doesn’t make you a selfish or poor caregiver. It makes you a healthy one. And the healthier you are, the more you’ll have to give to the person you are caring for.

You have rights as a caregiver. Keep them close to your heart and remind yourself every day. You have the right: [Read more…]

5 Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore As A Caregiver

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As a caregiver, you’ve probably become hyper-conscious about the person you are caring for. You can read mood swings, physical and mental changes quickly and fairly accurately. When something is wrong, you take action and get the help you need immediately.

What about your own health?

Caregivers assume they are the healthy one in the relationship. Nothing can happen to them; they have too much dependent on their actions every day. Which makes the situation ripe for problems.

Most aches and pains aren’t signs of something serious. But there are certain symptoms that you should have checked out immediately.

Weakness in Arms and Legs

If you feel a sudden weakness in your arm, leg, or face, especially if it’s on one side of your body, it can be a sign of a stroke. You may also notice a sudden imbalance, feel dizzy, or have trouble walking. Some also notice a sudden onset of a headache, have problems speaking, or feel confused. If a stroke is caught early and clot-buster drugs are used within 4 ½ hours of your first symptom, you can lower your risk of a long term disability. [Read more…]

Help! I’m a First Time Caregiver

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Caregiving isn’t something you plan. It isn’t something you wake up one day and decide to bring into your life.

Instead, it’s thrust upon you, usually at the most inopportune time. You have a life. You’re busy. And you don’t want this job too.

There’s never a right time to take on the caregiving role. But there are ways to integrate it into your life with less stress. Here’s how.

Start The Conversation Immediately

Caregiving doesn’t just impact you; it impacts the one you’re caring for, and the friends and family around you too. Who is close to this situation? Who will have a part in the process?

Bring them together and start a conversation as early as possible. Listen and respect everyone’s desires. Try and include as much as you can while realizing that not every wish will be possible as you travel down this new path. Above all, keep trying. Every day will be different and bring to light new issues. There will be conflict; talking it out and bringing in help right from the beginning will ensure less stress down the line. [Read more…]

Ask These Questions When You Want To Quit Caregiving

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Caregiving is a job you’ll often find yourself hating. Yet it’s also a job that very few feel they can just up and quit. The very nature of the role is it’s not something you choose, but instead, is thrust upon you.

The work isn’t fun. The stress is unrelenting. It’s difficult being at the top of your game night and day. It can be a tremendous sacrifice.

But it’s also a job that no matter how much we wish, we either can’t or don’t really want to stop. Ever find yourself in this situation? If so, maybe it’s time to ask these questions.

How can I change my expectations?

How often do you set yourself up for failure? Do you rise with a to-do list that rarely is accomplished? Burnout is inevitable when it comes to caregiving. But in many cases, it might be because you are enslaving yourself to a picture that can never be. The larger the gap is between what is possible and what you plan, the greater the pressure you’ll feel. This zaps your energy. Letting go of expectations is difficult and is something you may have to work towards. Take it one step at a time, accepting what is even if it’s for one moment of time per day. [Read more…]

Caregiving Positively Instead Of Negatively

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We’ve all had days where the negative self-talk starts from the moment we rise. Ever had your alarm fail? Then you know what I’m talking about. You suddenly realize your alarm didn’t go off when you planned, and the thoughts begin. “How could I forget to set that? How could I have been so stupid? Now my day is ruined. I’ll be late for everything. I’ll be in trouble at work.” It goes on and on.

Negative self-talk is something we all do. We have it at every juncture of our lives.

But when we move into a caregiving role, the negativity often rolls in equally as fast.

The internal negative thoughts begin. “Why is this happening?”

And unfortunately, they can grow and change every day. Depending on the results of your personal caregiving situation, you can become susceptible to unhelpful patterns of negative thinking. Let’s say you are caring for someone with memory issues. Repeating questions become a part of your daily routine. For you, that means negative thinking is always in the back of your mind. “When is this going to stop? No one understands how difficult my life is.” [Read more…]