Valleys and Mountains of Caregiving2013Did you believe the full or almost full time care of a spouse or parent would be without stress? Did you think family members and friends would be available and understanding to support you at that most crucial moment?
Has it changed? How long have you been the primary caregiver for a loved one? How often are you taking breaks? Do you think about respite?
Caregivers need care, attention, time outs, managed time and just time for themselves to be and do some of the things they used to do or just to sit and think and relax and not worry about the care and concern of others.
How often are you willing or would you be willing to fit this “time out” into your schedule?
If you live in the Los Angeles area, New Beginnings is offering a caregiver discussion focusing on ups and downs of caregiving. Join us.
Holiday Caregiving
When do the holidays officially start? Somewhere around Halloween? Our expectations grow. Stress starts to increase. Who’s coming for dinner? Are they spending the night? If so, are there dietary restrictions? Are they bringing additional guests who have never visited before?
Are they sharing in the food preparation? Should prepared meals be purchased? Are we able to go out for the holiday dinner?
These are some of the questions famiies face during the holiday season. Let’s imagine these questions in addition to caring for a loved one who is no longer able to provide the proper care for themselves. Do you feel the stress compounding?
We are in the midst of the hoilday season. What are you as the caregiver in your family doing as a caregiver to take better care of yourself?
Have you suggested that friends and family members bring a dish to share? How about a potluck dinner? Holidays are really about quality time spent with loved ones. Do they really know the difference between your homemade pie and one from the local bakery? More importantly, do you have the time and the energy to make those specialties while caring for your loved one?
If you do, when are you getting the necessary rest and attention you need and deserve?
Whenever friends, family member or associates call asking if there is something they can do to assist you with your caregiving needs, please respond with an errand, a task or volunteer service.
They really do want to help.
Do not hesitate to shorten visits from family and friends. You are enjoying their company, but are most likely exhaiusted from your day-to-day routine and the extras for this holiday season.They understand.
It is also important to make friends and family aware of the health of the person who is being cared for. Perhaps there have been major changes since they last saw or spoke with your loved one. Will Mom or Dad recognize them? Do young children make too much noise? Does your loved one sleep most of the day? Do they wander around? Consider the inconvenience of the loved one.
Holiday caregiving can be easier for you and the family if you allow others to assist you and don’t make grand plans that will leave you more stressed and tired after the holidays end.
Remember that you are a special gift to the family, to yourself and to your loved one. Take advantage of offerings. — a movie, spa day, shopping, time out. YOU NEED CARE TOO.
Meditation Helpful to/for Caregivers
Meditation May Help Fight Loneliness, Study Says
Researchers also looked at its effect on stress and inflammation in older adults
FRIDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay News) — A simple form of meditation can help stave off feelings of loneliness and may cut the body’s inflammatory response — which can trigger serious illness — to distressing emotions, a small new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that older adults who participated in an eight-week program of mindfulness-based stress reduction — which attunes the mind to the present and avoids dwelling on the past or projecting into the future — reported a reduced sense of loneliness on an established ratings scale. Blood tests also indicated a significant decrease in the expression of inflammation-related genes.
“I think meditation training can help [people] develop a new relationship to feelings of stress,” said study co-author J. David Creswell, director of the Health and Human Performance Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon. “It puts a brake on this process … and turns down the chronically stressed state people may be in, thereby turning down the pro-inflammatory cascade. I think it may be targeting the stress component of loneliness such that it doesn’t blow itself out of proportion.”
The study appeared online recently in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
Previous research has linked feeling lonely to a heightened risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, depression and premature death, and higher levels of inflammation in the body may play a role. The study authors said the new research was the first to show that a psychological intervention that decreases loneliness also cut pro-inflammatory gene expression.
Forty adults (mostly women) between the ages of 55 and 85 were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness meditation group or a control group that didn’t meditate. At the beginning and end of the two-month study, all participants were assessed for their feelings of loneliness and blood levels of gene expression for inflammation markers.
The meditation group participated in weekly two-hour group sessions, a daylong retreat later in the study and 30 minutes of daily home mindfulness practice. Group sessions consisted of an instructor leading participants in guided mindfulness meditation exercises, yoga and stretching, and discussions designed to foster awareness of participants’ moment-to-moment experiences.
The research provided additional clues as to how this form of meditation may affect the health of lonely older adults, the study authors said, although it did not assess whether the reduction in pro-inflammatory gene expression translated into meaningful differences on disease outcomes.
“It didn’t measure inflammation directly and didn’t really tell you whether their bodies are producing any more or less inflammation,” said Dr. Jeremy Koppel, a geriatric psychiatrist and research scientist at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y., and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y. But, “the study is suggestive of a very interesting and novel approach to the problem of loneliness … and broadens the potential benefit to other diseases of late life.”
More information
Wanted to share this informattion with you. Remember, caregivers need care too.
Visit the U.S. National Center for Complementary
Three R’s for Caregivers
Reading, writing and arithmatic are important for caregivers. You read to your loved ones — checking their important documents, prescriptions and subscriptions. Perhaps they are not doing all their business on line. There is writing. The math comes into play with medicine dosages and their financial concerns.
Those are the reliable 3 R’s. However, there is a new group of R’s for caregivers. They are Reality, Risks and Results.
It generally takes some time for caregivers to realize the gravity full time care for a loved one. The day-to-day caring for mom or dad or a spouse can become overwhelming after a long period of time. How long is this new arrangement going to last? Who is there in a supporting role? Many caregivers become caregivers for 4 or more years. Depending on the health of our loved one, the caregiving may become progressive requiring more and more attention and time from the caregiver and their usual daily activities.
What risks are involved for the caregiver? Are you still working a full-time job and realizing that caregiving requires more and more of your time? Do you still have near-adult children at home or returning home from college? What happens to your personal relationships? Are you spending enough time with your spouse and your friends? Are you as a caregiver prepared for these and other risks? How about your health? Are you exercising, eating properly, getting adequate rest and taking “time outs”?
The third R is results. What are the results of your caregiving for your loved one? How much balance is in your life? How are you feeling about your new or not so new role as caregiver? Have you sought and reached out for support? Have you thought about what happens next?
If you would like more information on Caring for the Caregiver, send me a message. Caregivers give their best. They also deserve the best of care for themselves. Let me hear your thoughts.
www.caregiversneedcaretoo.om
[email protected]
310 673 3349