1. Understand how much care is needed
In caregiving, many of us fall into a state where we “can’t see the forest for the trees.”
When you’re overwhelmed with a long list of caregiving To Dos, you’re so focused on the tasks that you’re not seeing the overall picture.
The first step is to find out how much care your older adult really needs.
Creating a list of daily, weekly, and monthly care tasks helps you understand how much help is needed during the day, at night, and on weekends. You’ll realize how much supervision is needed and at which times of day.
An easy way to make a comprehensive list is to set a notepad out and make quick notes every time you or someone else helps your older adult with something. After a week, you’ll have a good overview of what your senior needs help with and at what times of day.
To make sure everything is captured, keep the note-taking going longer to see if there’s anything that happens once or twice a month that you don’t want to forget.
2. Be realistic about how much care you can provide without harming your own health
Now that you know what your older adult’s care needs are, you can figure out if that’s something you can handle without help.
Or maybe looking over the list helps you realize that you definitely need help with a variety of tasks.
In your evaluation, think carefully about how much care you can realistically provide without harming your own health.
Keep in mind that if you take on too much, you will eventually burn out or develop a serious health conditions ultimately leaving you unable to care for anyone.
Instead, be as proactive as you can and find ways to get the help you need to keep up your health and keep going as a caregiver.
3. Get help with caregiving
Even though it might seem like finding caregiving help takes too much time and effort, remember that it’s an investment that will pay off in the future.
Finding help takes patience, effort, and creative thinking, but it will be worth it when you’re able to decrease your workload, reduce stress, and take regular breaks.
To help you spot more opportunities for getting help, keep an open mind and be flexible. And be sure to use the list of needs you wrote down to remind you of the types of help you need.