- Legacy Care LLC
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As a busy professional who needs to juggle work responsibilities with caregiving for your loved one, you may feel a range of emotions. With March being the women’s history month, we want to acknowledge that female caregivers are less likely to hire professional help for assistance with home care duties. This makes their day-to-day lives more stressful.
At Legacy Care, we believe that being transparent about your feelings is essential to your well-being. Here are a few emotional factors that can affect you along with tips to help you navigate them.
Anger Issues
Having to take care of a chronically ill parent while you are pursuing a career and taking care of other responsibilities can be overwhelming, leading to stress, burnout, and sometimes anger.
Please remember to take care of yourself and forgive yourself for your anger. We are all human, and we cannot be perfect. Try to prioritize self-care, seek support from friends, family, or support groups, and explore resources available for caregivers. You can also get the help of professional home caregivers who can help you take care of your loved ones’ daily needs, such as meal preparation, incontinence care, or even offering a listening ear.
Irritability Problems
The ongoing demands of caregiving, including managing medications, coordinating medical appointments, and providing personal care, create a constant state of stress that can disrupt your sleep and make you cranky. You may also snap and lose control of your emotions when insignificant things happen.
Though it is challenging to address your emotional stress, you could try communicating empathically. For example, if your loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia and is required to use a walker because they are at a high risk of falls, patiently convincing them and talking to them with care to ensure they adhere to these guidelines can help.
Fear of the Unknown
A profound sense of fear of the unknown for caregivers can stem from various uncertainties surrounding the elder’s health condition, the progression of the illness, and the challenges that lie ahead of family caregivers.
Breaking caregiving tasks into manageable steps and focusing on the present moment can help reduce anxiety about the future. You could also engage with professional caregivers like Legacy Care, where certified home health aides offer non-medical home care services to ensure your loved one is safe at home.
Elements of Quality Home Care Supporting Well-Being
When a home care agency prioritizes emotional health, it helps maintain individuals’ independence, dignity, and overall well-being in the comfort of their own homes. Try looking for the following indicators of holistic, compassionate care:
- Whole-person focus: Care plans addressing social, cognitive, and psychological needs, not just physical tasks.
- Communication: Clients and families maintaining open communication channels with the care team.
- Matching: Matching aides and clients based on personalities, hobbies, and needs, facilitating bonding.
- Training: Aides trained to provide competent and compassionate care.
- Consistency: Familiar faces and routines for the care recipients, reducing anxiety, confusion, and distress.
- Caregiver support: Access to resources, education, respite care, and emotional support services for family caregivers.
- Activities: Meaningful activities tailored to the individual’s interests, abilities, and cognitive function incorporated into care plans.
At Legacy Care LLC, we understand the broad range of emotions that family caregivers experience. We are here to help you. Contact us today.
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