Avoid Holiday Caregiver Stress – San Diego, CA


Christmas Caregiving for the Elderly  – Senior welfare in home care, san diego, california

Take Time for Yourself to Avoid Holiday Caregiver Stress

Get gift ideas.

Adult children need to find ways to take a break from the rigors of caring for their senior loved ones and their own children before the burden becomes too overwhelming. One possibility is respite help from a Home Instead CAREGiverSM.

Q. As a working mother of three children and caregiver to two senior parents, the holidays are among the most stressful times of the year for me. I’m a good manager, so I always get everything done, but I end up frazzled and unhappy by the time it’s all over. What are some things I can do to better manage my stress during this busy time?

Holidays are hectic no matter what, but adding caregiving responsibilities to the mix makes that equation more difficult to balance. More than half (55 percent) of the family caregivers who call upon help from their local Home Instead Senior Care® office appear to have average or significant levels of stress, according to a national survey. We imagine that percentage skyrockets for some by the end of the year. So here’s what you can do:

  • Exercise is vital: If you don’t have time for regular workouts, figure out ways to add movement and exercise into your routine. Walk to the mailbox to send your cards, park opposite the mall entrance or use the stairs instead of the elevator to shop. Ideally, carve out at least 20 minutes three times a week for an activity that you enjoy.
  • Remember to organize: When you get ready to do your holiday shopping, don’t just drive to the mall and go from business to business during your gift search. Sit down, make a shopping list and map your strategy so you don’t have to spend the whole day fighting the crowds.
  • Enlist help: Perhaps a neighbor, friend or relative is heading out to shop and would be willing to pick up a few items for you because you don’t have the time.
  • Look to online purchases: If you’re confident with Internet, most major retail companies are willing to accommodate your orders. Many offer free shipping during the holidays.
  • Proper diet is a must: It’s tempting to eat too much junk and sugar during the holidays. Try to maintain a regular healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables.
  • Do something special for yourself: While it may sound frivolous, make time during the season just for you. Get a massage, lunch out with a friend or go to an afternoon matinee movie while the kids are in school.
  • Don’t neglect spiritual needs: Many places of worship are incorporating Saturday night and Sunday night services in addition to multiple morning services, so check out what’s available. Most places of worship have men and women who can make home visits for ministering to you or your senior loved ones or offering communion. Don’t be afraid to call and ask.
  • Ask for help if you need it: Did you know that, according to a Home Instead Senior Care network survey, 72 percent of adults who are providing care for an aging loved one do so without any outside help? To allow time for yourself, ask a neighbor or friend to pick up your kids from school so you can go to lunch or see that movie. Or consider hiring a CAREGiverSM from the local Home Instead Senior Care office. CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured and often provide respite care to busy family caregivers.

Check out other articles on www.CaregiverStress.comSM..

 

Holiday Elf Certificate

Customize this gift certificate to give the seniors in your life what they really want – meaningful time spent with you. Personalize your gift offering with one of the provided activity suggestions or come up with one of your own.
Download Holiday Elf Certificate (PDF 602k)

NEED a CAREGiverSM

Compassionate CAREGivers are ready to help seniors live independently at home.

Inquire about service today!

Become a CAREGiverSM

Seeking employment? Have what it takes to help seniors lead rewarding lives?

Inquire about being a CAREGiver

Jessica Perez

Office Manager

Home Instead Senior Care

Secure Care Inc.9665 Granite Ridge Dr. Ste. 205

San Diego, CA 92123 USA

P: 858.277.3722

F: 858.277.6737

homeinsteadsd@aol.com

www.homeinstead.com/158

Each Home Instead Senior Care Franchise

is independently owned and operated.

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Holidays to the Hospital – 10 Ways to Bring


Christmas Caregiving for the Elderly  – Senior welfare in home care, san diego, california

10 Ways to Bring the Holidays to the Hospital

As the familiar Perry Como song goes, “Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays.” With decorations carefully placed throughout the house, delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, and, most importantly, friends and family gathered together, the home is full of joyous traditions and memories around the holidays.

But the holidays take on a vastly different feel for an elderly loved one confined to a hospital room. In contrast to the festive sights, sounds, smells, tastes, moments and memories of home, the sterility and isolation of the hospital can breed sadness and depression.

Help your hospital-bound loved one feel the joy and meaning of the season by adapting a few favorite holiday traditions. Consult the following list of activities for inspiration.

  1. Let the kids unwrap a few gifts by Grandma’s bedside so she can see the joy on their faces.
  2. Decorate the room with holiday wreathes, garlands, strings of lights and battery-powered or plug-in candles. (Check with hospital staff before doing so.)
  3. Bring a photo album or scrapbook full of pictures from holidays past and reminisce with your loved one.
  4. Get the whole family together for a holiday sing-along in your loved one’s room.
  5. Listen to a recording of a religious service together.
  6. Play your loved one’s favorite holiday music.
  7. Create a sachet of fragrant dried balsam pine needles so your loved one can enjoy the Christmas tree smell.
  8. Bring your loved one’s favorite holiday treat to enjoy together (diet permitting).
  9. Watch a favorite holiday movie together, or, better yet, watch home videos of holidays passed.
  10. Bring a few special ornaments for your loved one to hold and discuss the memories associated with each. Even if Dad can’t be home to help decorate the tree, seeing and touching the ornaments can bring back wonderful memories.

(Tip: Check with your loved one’s nurses or doctors to know what is medically permissible in terms of activity level and diet. Also, make sure you know the best times to visit and for how long.)

Whatever activities you choose from this list or creatively come up with on your own to bring the holidays to the hospital, remember that what your loved one will appreciate most is the quality time spent together.

Holiday Elf Certificate

Customize this gift certificate to give the seniors in your life what they really want – meaningful time spent with you. Personalize your gift offering with one of the provided activity suggestions or come up with one of your own.
Download Holiday Elf Certificate (PDF 602k)

NEED a CAREGiverSM

Compassionate CAREGivers are ready to help seniors live independently at home.

Inquire about service today!

Become a CAREGiverSM

Seeking employment? Have what it takes to help seniors lead rewarding lives?

Inquire about being a CAREGiver

Jessica Perez

Office Manager

Home Instead Senior Care

Secure Care Inc.9665 Granite Ridge Dr. Ste. 205

San Diego, CA 92123 USA

P: 858.277.3722

F: 858.277.6737

homeinsteadsd@aol.com

www.homeinstead.com/158

Each Home Instead Senior Care Franchise

is independently owned and operated.

Like this:

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Posted in Award Winning Senior Care Franchise, Baby Boomers, Become a Caregiver, Crime against seniors, Crime against the elderly, Elderly Home Safety, Financial Exploitation, Fraud Protection Kit, Home Care, Identity Theft, Senior Care Services, Senior Care Videos, Senior Emergency Plan, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a reply

Family Meeting – Outside Help – Christmas Caregiving in San Diego CA (6)


Christmas Caregiving for the Elderly  – Senior welfare in home care, san diego, california

Holding a Family Meeting – When to Get Outside Help (6)

The holidays are a prime time for family members to get together to discuss care possibilities for an aging loved one. Follow these guidelines and considerations:

©Family Caregiver Alliance

When Do You Need Outside Help? Where Can You Get It?

Although family meetings can be powerful and effective ways to connect and work with senior1family members, they cannot magically solve all the problems of caring for an ill family member. When families have trouble working together or coming to agreements or when the family is divided on a big issue, it often helps to invite a neutral outside facilitator to attend. Sometimes a crisis precipitates the need for a meeting—perhaps someone is in the hospital and major life and death decisions need to be made. Time can be of the essence. Whatever work you have done together earlier will help you at these times of extreme stress.

Social workers from local caregiver organizations (such as Caregiver Resource Centers in California), as well as ministers, private case managers, social workers in home health or hospice, physicians, discharge planners in hospitals and nursing homes can help facilitate a family meeting or refer you to someone who can. Psychotherapists in private practice are trained in family counseling. If you find yourself in a difficult position, you might also want to see a psychotherapist privately. Don’t forget the support you can find with friends, colleagues and support groups. Sharing experiences with other caregivers can help ease the feelings and frustrations often involved in being a caregiver.

Recommended Reading

Share the Care, Cappy Capossela, Sheila Warnock, Simon and Schuster, 1995.

I’ll Take Care of You, Joseph Ilardo, Carole Rothman, New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 1999.

Taking Care of Aging Family Members, Wendy Lustbader, Nancy Hooyman, The Free Press, 1994.

The Caregiver Helpbook, Vicki Schmall, Marilyn Cleland, Marilynn Sturdevant, Legacy Health System, 2000.

How to Care for Aging Parents, Virginia Morris, Workman Publishing, 1996.

Resources

Family Caregiver Alliance
785 Market Street, Suite 750
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 434-3388
(800) 445-8106
Web Site: www.caregiver.org
E-mail: info@caregiver.org

Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) seeks to improve the quality of life for caregivers through education, services, research and advocacy.

Holiday Elf Certificate
Customize this gift certificate to give the seniors in your life what they really want – meaningful time spent with you. Personalize your gift offering with one of the provided activity suggestions or come up with one of your own.
Download Holiday Elf Certificate (PDF 602k)

NEED a CAREGiverSM

Compassionate CAREGivers are ready to help seniors live independently at home.

Inquire about service today!

Become a CAREGiverSM

Seeking employment? Have what it takes to help seniors lead rewarding lives?

Inquire about being a CAREGiver

Jessica Perez

Office Manager

Home Instead Senior Care

Secure Care Inc.9665 Granite Ridge Dr. Ste. 205

San Diego, CA 92123 USA

P: 858.277.3722

F: 858.277.6737

homeinsteadsd@aol.com

www.homeinstead.com/158

Each Home Instead Senior Care Franchise

is independently owned and operated.

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Posted in Award Winning Senior Care Franchise, Baby Boomers, Become a Caregiver, Crime against seniors, Crime against the elderly, Elderly Home Safety, Financial Exploitation, Fraud Protection Kit, Home Care, Identity Theft, Senior Care Services, Senior Care Videos, Senior Emergency Plan, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a reply

Family Meeting – Win/Win Situations – Christmas Caregiving in San Diego CA (5)


Christmas Caregiving for the Elderly  – Senior welfare in home care, san diego, california

Holding a Family Meeting -Win/Win Situations (5)

The holidays are a prime time for family members to get together to discuss care possibilities for an aging loved one. Follow these guidelines and considerations:

©Family Caregiver Alliance

Win/Win Situations

Consensus: Not all the issues inherent in caregiving and decision-making can be solved;alzheimer family sometimes it is important to accept approximations of a good solution. Try to work toward consensus building. Change happens slowly, but when families meet regularly, the seeds that are planted can grow into more productive solutions. Often things do not change until there is a crisis, but the work that has been done during the family meeting will make decision-making easier when the crisis does come. Agreements can be made on a time-limited basis to see if the agreed-upon action will work. Future meetings can be used to evaluate these trials and revise them as necessary.

Respecting each person’s individuality and situation helps to create an atmosphere of acceptance and allows for creative solutions to problems. For example, Carol finds it difficult to be around sick people, so when her brother got lung cancer, she knew she couldn’t take care of him. However, she was more than willing to make the pastas of their native Italy and take them to him to comfort him during his illness. Jesse lives a thousand miles away, but can get time off from work to be with her mother while her brother and his family take a vacation. When Ed’s mother had surgery, Ed arranged to take care of his father with Alzheimer’s, while his sister worked full time and helped with the expenses. Gina takes her parents to medical appointments while her sister makes sure they get their medicines properly every night.

Compromise: In order for these solutions to work, people have to learn to compromise. By being open to alternatives, you might get part—although maybe not all—of what you want or need. We often hold out for only one solution to a problem, we don’t consider other possibilities that could assist us. Asking for help is one of the hardest things to do. Learning to graciously receive help offered can also be a struggle, not only for the person who is sick, but also for the person who is the primary caregiver. Being appreciative is the best reward you can give someone who is trying to help you, even if the type of help he/she is offering isn’t exactly what you wanted. When you make someone feel good about helping, he/she will want to help again. “Thank you” will take you a long way in working together. In creating the caregiving team, think about how each person should be acknowledged.

Put it in writing: A written agreement capturing the decisions and agreements made at the end of the meeting can be a helpful reminder for family members. Distributing a calendar with different days marked with responsibilities and commitments can also help each person honor the agreements made.

Holiday Elf Certificate
Customize this gift certificate to give the seniors in your life what they really want – meaningful time spent with you. Personalize your gift offering with one of the provided activity suggestions or come up with one of your own.
Download Holiday Elf Certificate (PDF 602k)

NEED a CAREGiverSM

Compassionate CAREGivers are ready to help seniors live independently at home.

Inquire about service today!

Become a CAREGiverSM

Seeking employment? Have what it takes to help seniors lead rewarding lives?

Inquire about being a CAREGiver

Jessica Perez

Office Manager

Home Instead Senior Care

Secure Care Inc.9665 Granite Ridge Dr. Ste. 205

San Diego, CA 92123 USA

P: 858.277.3722

F: 858.277.6737

homeinsteadsd@aol.com

www.homeinstead.com/158

Each Home Instead Senior Care Franchise

is independently owned and operated.

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Posted in Award Winning Senior Care Franchise, Baby Boomers, Become a Caregiver, Crime against seniors, Crime against the elderly, Elderly Home Safety, Financial Exploitation, Fraud Protection Kit, Home Care, Identity Theft, Senior Care Services, Senior Care Videos, Senior Emergency Plan, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a reply

Senior In Home Care, San Diego, CA – Lotsa Helping Hands Features (1)


Senior inhome care, san diego, ca

Features of Lotsa Helping Hands (1)

Learn about the free tools designed to make life easier for caregivers and volunteers in our secure online Private and Open Community web sites.

Help Calendar: Our easy to use Help Calendar enables members to schedule and sign up for tasks that provide respite for the caregiver including meals for the family, rides to medical appointments, and visits. Coordinators can post tasks that require help so volunteers can easily see what’s needed. Regular reminders are sent to volunteers so that no one forgets their commitments.

Share how you are dealing with caring for your parents.

Get your FREE Guide to Senior Inhome Care at www.seniorcarechoicessd.com

NEED a CAREGiverSM

Compassionate CAREGivers are ready to help seniors live independently at home.
Inquire about service today!

Become a CAREGiverSM

Seeking employment? Have what it takes to help seniors lead rewarding lives?
Inquire about being a CAREGiver

Jessica Perez
Office Manager

Home Instead Senior Care
Secure Care Inc.9665 Granite Ridge Dr. Ste. 205
San Diego, CA 92123 USA
P: 858.277.3722
F: 858.277.6737
homeinsteadsd@aol.com
www.homeinstead.com/158
Each Home Instead Senior Care Franchise
is independently owned and operated.

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Like this:

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Posted in Award Winning Senior Care Franchise, Baby Boomers, Become a Caregiver, Crime against seniors, Crime against the elderly, Elderly Home Safety, Financial Exploitation, Fraud Protection Kit, Home Care, Identity Theft, Senior Care Services, Senior Care Videos, Senior Emergency Plan, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a reply