One of the hot topics in the healthcare industry today is “self care.” This term has become a catchall phrase anything that an individual does that is in his or her own self interest and in promotion of health–either physical or mental. A lot of things can be grouped into this big category, and not all of them are appropriate or helpful over the long term. The trick is to go beyond the buzzword and take an honest look at what helpful self care actually looks like. And then, we can take a look at how it can be helpful in the world of senior care.
A lot of the time that we hear talk of self care in the senior care business, we refer to the caregivers that provide assistance to the elderly. But that’s only a portion of the full story. Caregivers do need to take care of themselves if they are going to provide a high quality of care. And that goes for both family and professional caregivers. But seniors also have a right, and whenever possible, an obligation, to care for themselves. But like thousands of others, it might be necessary to provide some help and guidance in this area to ensure that helpful self care is actually taking place.
This might require some guidance from a professional. It’s really easy to focus on the needs of others and forget about ourselves. We can often forget what a balanced life even looks like.
This is not something that applies to some and not others. Everyone should practice self care in one way or another. That goes for you and me, too. It doesn’t need to be a weekend retreat practicing meditation, but it can be. Sometimes self care can simply take the form of sitting down for a few minutes and reading. It can mean going to the grocery store or running a few errands. It can even mean going into the doctor’s office for a routine checkup. For our elderly loved ones, these things might take a different form, but those needs are still there. Your parents might even need to be reminded once in a while to address them.
How can we help? One way is through respite services. Respite care is designed to help take the load off for a short period of time. This can be a few hours or even a few days. Either way, it gives you the chance to do what you need to do–whatever that might be–before you return to providing care. Having a professional caregiver step in and help a loved one might also be what’s needed to help teach them ways to take care of themselves.
Do you have questions about respite care and how it can help you give your family a better ability to care for others? Please give us a call. We can help walk you through what this will look like for your particular set of circumstances in a no-cost, no-obligation consultation. We would love to help with your senior care planning, so please feel free to reach out and get started today.
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