Caregiving is about more than just taking care of your senior. It’s also about taking care of yourself, while you give care, so that you can continue to be a caregiver.
Pay Attention to Home Safety
Home safety is one of the best ways to keep your senior as safe as possible. Giving her what she needs to be able to navigate her home easily and safely, like installing handrails, is going to do more for her than you believe possible. Removing hazards or making it easier for your senior to deal with potential hazards ensures that she’s going to be able to feel comfortable in her home.
Keep Yourself and Your Senior Organized
When you’ve got what you need and can access those items easily, whether that’s paperwork or first aid supplies, that makes a huge difference. It does for your elderly family member, too. Do what you can to organize her belongings in ways that make the most sense for her and for her life. If she needs help with home organization, you may want to bring in an expert who can help.
Don’t Neglect Your Own Life and Needs
If you’re ignoring your own needs and your own life, that’s just going to sap energy from caregiving. It’s going to make caregiving that much more difficult, when it doesn’t have to be. Take the time to assess what you need as well and make sure that you’re doing everything that you can to meet your own needs. If you don’t, you’re going to find that caregiving just gets more and more difficult.
Find Ways to Take Breaks
Taking breaks seems like something that you shouldn’t be doing as a caregiver, but you need to be able to have time for yourself. If you’re not taking breaks, you’re going to find that it’s impossible to keep going. Give yourself breaks every day, and take longer breaks on a regular basis. When you do, you’re going to see a difference in what you’re able to do and how you’re able to cope. That’s important for your elderly family member and for you.
No caregiver exists in a vacuum. When you’re taking proper care of yourself, that gives you more of what you need in order to take care of your senior family member. Get the help that you need to ensure that you’re both able to have your most urgent needs met.
If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Caregivers in Largo, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 727-748-4211.
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Becky Moultrie is Owner and Administrator of Assisting Hands Home Care Serving Pinellas. Guided by a motto to Do Good with Love, she’s well positioned to do just that at Assisting Hands. She has a passion for helping families keep seniors and those who are diabled happy and healthy at home. She serves on a number of boards in Pinellas County including the Pinellas Park Gateway Chamber and Better Living Seniors (BLS), leading the Membership Committee. Annually, she hosts a Silver Santa Party, collecting donations for nearly 100 low income seniors in the county. She attends Blessed Sacrament Church, Seminole where she is an Ascribed Member of the Rosminian Order. When not busy Doing Good in the community, Becky is at home with her husband David & their 4 children, tending to their beehives and digging in the garden.
