Care for the Caregiver: The Need and the Reality

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Care for the Caregiver The Need and the
Reality       
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Caring for an ailing loved one can lead to
increases in stress, anxiety, and depression. It
can also be incredibly rewarding
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• More than 50 million Americans care for a family
  member or friend with a chronic illness,
  disability, or advanced age during any given year
  (National Family Caregivers Association, 2000).
• Caregiving costs 306 billion annually (NIH,
  2000)
• Caregivers are at greater risk of illness and/or
  death (JAMA)

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Signs that caregiving may be becoming too
risky(adapted from caregiverstress.com)

• Missing or delaying own doctors appointments
• Ignoring own health problems or symptoms
• Not eating a healthy diet
• Overusing tobacco or alcohol to deal with stress

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• Giving up exercise habits
• Losing sleep
• Losing connections with friends
• Bottling up feelings of anger and frustration
• Feeling sad, down, depressed, or hopeless much of
  the time
• Loss of energy
• Loss of interest in things that used to give
  pleasure

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• Blaming ill person for the situation
• Feeling that people ask more than they should
• Feeling like caregiving has affected family
  relationships in a negative way
• Feeling annoyed that others dont help out
• Feeling annoyed that others criticize caregiving
• Feeling resentful towards ill person

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 CAREGIVER STRESS SELF-ASSESSMENT
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• If you dont take care of yourself, you will
  never be able to continue taking care of your
  loved one. This means eating right, getting
  adequate rest, building exercise into your
  schedule, and keeping up with your own medical
  appointments. (caregiverstress.com)

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Ways to avoid and manage caregiver
stress(adapted from caregiverstress.com)

• Work out
• Meditate
• Ask for help (even of ill person)
• Take a break

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• Indulge massage ,manicure, etc.
• Find support
• Laugh
• Eat well
• Take care of yourself
• Adult day care
• Respite care
• Challenge irrational thoughts

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Irrational beliefs albert ellis

• It is a dire necessity for adult humans to be
  loved or approved by virtually every
  significant other person in their community.
• One absolutely must be competent, adequate and
  achieving in all important respects or else one
  is an inadequate, worthless person.

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• People absolutely must act considerately and
  fairly and they are damnable villains if they
  do not. They are their bad acts.
• Emotional disturbance is mainly externally
  caused and people have little or no ability to
  increase or decrease their dysfunctional
  feelings and behaviors.

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• It is awful and terrible when things are not the
  way one would very much like them to be.
• If something is or may be dangerous or fearsome,
  then one should be constantly and excessively
  concerned about it and should keep dwelling on
  the possibility of it occurring.

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• One cannot and must not face life's
  responsibilities and difficulties it is easier
  to avoid them.
• One's past history is an all-important
  determiner of one's present behavior and
  because something once strongly affected one's
  life, it should indefinitely have a similar
  effect.

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• One must be quite dependent on others and need
  them and one cannot mainly run one's own life.
• Other people's disturbances are horrible and one
  must feel upset about them.
• There is invariably a right, precise and
  perfect solution to human problems and it is
  awful if this perfect solution is not found.

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Rational emotive behavior therapy

• A activating event or potentially stressful
  situation
• B beliefs, thoughts, or perceptions about A
• C emotional consequence that results from
  holding these beliefs
• A potentially stressful situation your
  perceptions your stress level

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Caregiving example
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SELF CARE

• Prevention and Management
• of Burnout

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Stages of Burnout
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Prevention of Burnout
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HOW MANY HOURS IN A WEEK?
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• SLEEP MEALS COMMUTING
  ERRANDS FAMILY TIME
  GROOMING CAREGIVING RECREATION
• MAINTAINING RECORDS MEETINGS
• UPGRADING SKILLS COMMUNITY
  SERVICESPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

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SETTING PRIORITIES

• WORK
• FAMILY
• FRIENDS
• COMMUNITY
• SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS
• RELAXATION
• HEALTH

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WORK PRIORITIES

• COMPETENCE
• TRAINING
• PROMOTION
• RECOGNITION
• INCOME

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FAMILY PRIORITIES

• NURTURE RELATIONSHIPS
• TIME WITH PARTNER
• TIME WITH CHILDREN
• RESOLVE CONFLICTS
• HAVE FUN TOGETHER

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FRIENDSHIP PRIORITIES

• DEEPEN RELATIONSHIPS
• SPEND TIME TOGETHER
• PARTY

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COMMUNITY PRIORITIES

• VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
• CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGNS
• SPECIFIC CAUSES

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SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS PRIORITIES

• DEEPEN SPIRITUAL LIFE
• FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHERS
• PRAYER
• MEDITATION
• STUDY
• BALANCE

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RELAXATION PRIORITIES

• VACATION
• MASSAGE
• PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
• HANG OUT

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HEALTH PRIORITIES

• EATING HABITS
• SLEEPING HABITS
• EXERCISE
• PHYSICAL RENEWAL
• MENTAL/EMOTIONAL RENEWAL

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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
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GOAL SETTING WHAT DO I WANT AND WHY DO I WANT
IT?

• When the WHY gets stronger, the HOW gets easier
• Goals need to be specific, doable, and measurable

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GOAL SETTING

• GOAL
• REASON
• Objective 1
• Objective 2
• Objective 3

• Example
• Improve health in order to have more energy
• Exercise 30 minutes 4 times/week
• Lose 1.5 pounds/week for a total of 25 pounds
• Eat 1800-2000 calories/day

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GOAL SETTING do it yourself
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SUCCESS QUESTION

• WHAT CAN I DO TODAY THAT WILL HELP ME TOWARDS MY
  GOAL?
• What can I do for exercise today?
• What can I do today to enhance
  my relationship with my partner?
• What can I do today to nurture myself?

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Self-Care Exercise

• Make a list of at least 20 things you enjoy
• Put next to those that cost less than 10
• Put A for those you prefer to do alone
• Put T for those you prefer to do together with
  someone
• Put B for those that you enjoy equally alone or
  together
• Put 15 for those you can do in 15 minutes or less
• Put an asterisk by those that have a ,15,and A

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Self-Care Contract

• Pair up share lists
• Develop contract for what you will do to have fun
  during the next week
• Is it specific?
• Measurable?
• Doable?
• Select someone in your life with whom to be
  accountable