Considering Respite Care

Considering Respite Care | If you’re the primary caregiver for your senior family member, then you know that it can be a rewarding yet emotionally exhausting experience. While it’s important to care for your loved one, it’s also important to pay attention to how you’re feeling and care for yourself, as well. Many caregivers will suffer from compassion fatigue at least once during their time as a caregiver. Compassion fatigue is when a caregiver spends so much time on the person being cared for without taking the time to focus on themselves, to the point of exhaustion. This often ends in the caregiver feeling decreased empathy.

If you’re a caregiver, here are some ways to recognize and prevent compassion fatigue:

Know the Symptoms

Caregivers who are having compassion fatigue may experience a variety of symptoms, the biggest one being decreased empathy. Other symptoms may include feeling physically or mentally exhausted, feelings of dread or guilt, irritability, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping or making decisions. Someone dealing with compassion fatigue may have trouble finding meaning in caregiving and may isolate themselves. Some caregivers may even deny that they’re feeling compassion fatigue. If left untreated for too long, they may start resenting the person they are caring for.

If you’re a caregiver, regularly check in with how you’re feeling. By paying attention to how you’re feeling – and giving yourself breaks when you need them – you can prevent family relationship strains and you’ll be feeling better.

What to Do

If you’ve been noticing these symptoms, you might be wondering what you should do. Well, the first step is noticing and acknowledging these feelings. Then, determine what you need in order to de-stress. This can look different for everyone. For some, just spending 10 minutes a day on a walk or meditating may help. Others might try to spend one evening a week socializing with friends. Or they might find writing in a journal, finding a caregiver support group, or talking to a counselor to be helpful.

If you’ve been meaning to do these things but don’t feel that you can leave your loved one at home alone, consider working with a respite caregiver. A respite caregiver can take your place while you run errands, take a vacation, or simply need some time to yourself.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers, we understand that sometimes family members need time to practice self-care. That’s why we offer respite care services that can reduce the burden of caring for a loved one. While caring for a family member can be very rewarding, it’s important that you don’t forget about your needs. If you’re interested in working with Comfort Keepers, call or contact us online today.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

Consider Respite Care

Respite Care and Your Loved One | Taking care of a loved one can be a fulfilling, joyful experience. It can feel good to take care of someone who took care of you for many years, and oftentimes, giving care to a family member can bring you closer together.

However, taking care of a family member, especially if it’s around the clock, can be demanding emotionally and physically. If you’re caring for a family member, you may find yourself feeling drained or emotionally exhausted. Maybe you haven’t had time to care for yourself and do the things that you enjoy doing.

If this is the case, respite care may be an option. Respite care is temporary care provided by a professional to relieve a family member or primary caregiver from their responsibilities. Respite care is available for anywhere from just a few hours up to extended periods of time, like a few weeks. Respite care allows the primary caregiver to relax and recharge while having the peace of mind that their loved one is being cared for.

Many primary caregivers feel guilty when they are doing something for themselves instead of caring for their loved one. However, in order to provide the best care, it’s important for you to take breaks every so often. Caregiving can be stressful and can even bring on feelings of resentment. More than likely, the person you’re caring for will pick up on this. Plus, it’s a good change of pace for your loved one. It’s likely that your loved one doesn’t have many new visitors, so bringing in a new guest can be valuable and exciting for them.

There are a few different options for respite care. Some family members use a nursing home or an adult daycare center. Others prefer to keep their loved one in the comfort of their own home and bring in a caregiver. Either way, make sure that your loved one is included in the conversation. Their comfort and happiness should be the priority.

With respite care, the primary caregiver will be able to relax and re-energize. They will also be able to spend time with other family members or participate in hobbies. This can relieve the stress, guilt, and resentment that can come along with being a full-time caregiver for a family member.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers^®, offers respite care for caregivers who need it. Our caregivers will come right to your loved one’s home, so there’s no need to transport them to a new and unfamiliar place. Our caregivers are held to the highest of caregiving standards so you can be sure that your loved one is in good hands

We create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

What is Respite Care?

Considering Respite Care This Holiday Season | Respite care is the temporary transfer of a primary caregiver’s responsibilities to someone else, who is usually a professional caregiver or another family member or friend. Primary caregivers will, at some point throughout their caregiving, need relief. Whether it be a few hours a day, once a week, or for a longer period of time, having someone available for respite care is crucial to your caregiver’s health.

What You Should Know When Caring for a Loved One

While it can be rewarding to care for a loved one, many caregivers find that their care declines in quality when they themselves become sick or unwell. Caring for another person is important, but it’s also good to remember to take care of yourself as well. This is especially important if your loved one has a long-term or severe illness. When someone you love needs 24/7 care, it can be hard to take time for yourself.

Comfort Keepers, along with Clear Care, partnered with Stanford Center on Longevity and Stanford University Psychology Department on a study about older family caregivers and their wellbeing.

They found several things – first, caring for someone with a mild illness had an emotional wellbeing greater than that of young adults, and that emotionally, they felt the same as their peers. However, when caring for someone with a severe illness, the caregiver had a lower sense of well-being than their peers. Researchers were able to make a connection between the lower sense of well-being and the inability to pursue one’s own goals and hobbies. So, while caring for someone with a mild illness did not negatively affect the caregiver’s well-being, caring for someone with a more severe illness did.

Caregivers can have a lot of stress on their shoulders, especially when they have to sacrifice their career or lifestyle. However, many caregivers feel like caregiving gives them a sense of purpose and can bring a lot of fulfillment to their lives – as long as they are able to take the time to care for themselves and their own needs.

If you’ve been caring for a family member and are feeling stressed or burnt out, hiring a respite caregiver can be a great way to ensure that your loved one is still getting the care they need while giving yourself a much-needed break.

Considering Respite Care This Holiday Season? Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers^®, we understand that it can be a tough transition of trusting someone else to care for your loved one. Here at Comfort Keepers, we want to make sure that you’re confident in our ability to care for your family member. Each care recipient gets a customized care plan to ensure that they get the highest quality care possible.

We create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

What is Compassion Fatigue?

What is Compassion Fatigue? | Becoming a family caregiver is a noble thing and a sign of how much you care for your senior loved one. However, as it’s often the case, family caregivers get to a point when they’re no longer capable of taking care of the senior. At least not without feeling bad, both emotionally and physically.

This condition is called compassion fatigue and is pretty common. It comes as a result of too much stress that comes with providing care to the senior loved one, as well as watching them struggle with all the problems that the old age brings.

Although the signs of compassion fatigue depend on the personality of the caregiver, there are some symptoms that are more common than others. Those include the following:

• Physical exhaustion
• Emotional exhaustion
• Failure to concentrate
• Irritability
• Depression
• Trouble leading a normal social life
• The loss of empathy towards the senior

If you recognize some of these symptoms, it means that it’s time for you to take some break. The good news is that even just a couple of days could do wonders for you. The thing we recommend is to take a small vacation, visit friends and relatives, or simply watch movies and series on TV. But, get some rest from your work as a family caregiver.

The question you’re probably asking at this point is who’s gonna take care of your senior while you’re away. The answer is Comfort Keepers. This is an adult home care agency whose caregivers can fill your spot while you’re absent.

They have the skills and the experience necessary to give your aging loved one all they need. And because they work in shifts, there’s gonna be someone watching over your senior loved one at any given time.

How Can Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Help?

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.