Coping with Stress of Senior Home Care

December 7, 2009

Senior home care is making the decision to care for your aging parents or loved ones in their home or in your home allowing them their independence but taking on the responsibility of their being the caregiver.  Caring for aging parents or loved ones carries a lot of responsibility and a range of emotions.  No matter how much love in your heart, carrying the load of caring for your loved one will leave you drained physically, emotionally and possibly financially.    Coping with the stress of senior home care has to be managed or you will not be able to be an effective caregiver.

Managing the stress of senior home care is all about taking charge.  Take charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment and the way you deal with problems and unexpected situations.  The ultimate goal of coping with the stress of senior home care is to achieve a balanced life.

How to reduce, prevent, and cope with the stress of senior home care:

Senior home care requires organization – Organize your time and your schedule.  Write everything down so that you or another family member has reference to phone numbers, doctors, medications, in home senior care providers, important insurance and financial numbers.

Start a personal journal- Share your feelings about the stress of senior home care.  Writing down your thoughts will help you to take charge of your emotions.

Prioritize your health and well-being.   Nurturing yourself is a necessary not a luxury.  Healthy ways to relax and recharge:

• Go for a walk
• Call a good friend
• Sweat out the tension with a good workout
• Write in your journal
• Curl up with a good book
• Take a long bath
• Eat healthy and exercise regularly
• Play with your pet
• Work in your garden
• Listen to music
• Savor a cup of warm coffee or tea

Give yourself a break – Enlist the help of a professional senior home care provider. Senior home care providers such as Visiting Angels can provide daily or weekly help to everyday chores, errands, hygiene, meals or transportation needs just to name a few.  Senior home care providers can also provide a respite to you responsibilities with as little as 15 minute notice to avoid unnecessary stress if your schedule needs help.

Coping with the stress of senior home care is the only possible way to be an effective caregiver to your loved ones.  Your mental and physical health must take priority or you will not be able to manage what needs to be done.  Take advantage of these tips.  Organize yourself, express yourself, nurture yourself and help yourself by arranging for assistance with a senior home care provider.

Bio:  Linda Dunkelberger is a freelance writer and editor.  “Coping with Stress of Senior Home Care” shares tips for coping with the stress of senior home care.  Visiting Angels is a senior home care provider that helps seniors with everyday tasks, errands, meals, transportation, just to name a few services.  For more information on Visiting Angels in your area, see www.Visitingangels.com.

GETTING OLDER – Senior Living Insights

November 12, 2008

GETTING OLDER – Senior Living Insights

By: Ruby MacDonald

“I began to understand that the promises of the world are for the most part vain phantoms, and that to have faith in one self and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.” – Michelangelo

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback; I don’t think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, the woman was immediately embarrassed. I then explained that it was an interesting question and I would ponder it.

Old age, I decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body, of course!  The wrinkles, the baggy eyes, skin spots and bumps, the sagging butt, and – - -. Often I am taken aback by that old person who lives in my mirror, but I don’t agonize over those things for very long. This is God’s plan for us.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, and my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself and less critical of myself. I’ve finally become my own friend and I like her.

I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly trinket. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy and to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. I dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50’s and if at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will.

I will walk the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a bulging body and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to despite the pitying glances from the bikini set. Oh yes, they too, will eventually look like me.

I know I am often forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. Eventually I remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one or when a child suffers or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

Most importantly, I think that by living this many years, I have finally begun to understand a bit about why we are all here; why we were gifted to walk the pathways we have trod and maybe glimpse a bit of God’s plan for now and later. I have been truly blessed.

So, to answer the question: I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been or worrying about what will be.  And—I shall eat a bit of the “dessert of life” every single day!    (Author unknown – an email forward 5-05)
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I’d like to thank the person who wrote this article because she has fed us some challenging food for thought. Today let’s all rethink our own attitudes about aging and if they are less than positive, turn those thoughts around so that each and every day that God gives us will be a precious gift for which we truly give thanks and receive with gratitude each and every morning as we awaken.

PEOPLE DON’T GROW OLD.
WHEN THEY STOP GROWING, THEY BECOME OLD. – (Anonymous)