Caregiver

Caring for a Loved One During COVID-19

Being a caregiver is challenging; and taking care of a loved one during COVID-19 can be particularly stressful with social distancing and the uncertainty around when our lives can go back to normal. In addition to keeping your loved ones safe, It’s important to take care of yourself – both physically and mentally- so you can be there for those that need it the most. Below are several tips and resources to help with your caregiver responsibilities during this difficult time.

  1. Keep You and Your Loved Ones Safe – Older adults and people with chronic conditions such as lung or heart disease are at higher risk for having more serious complications from COVID-19. The CDC recommends that anyone over 60 should remain at home as much as possible, wash their hands frequently, and take everyday precautions to stay at least 6 feet away from others. If you are a caregiver for an older adult living alone, experts advise the following tips to preserve the safety and health:
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Helping The Community Help You

As a caregiver, the phrase you probably hear most from friends and family is “What can I do to help?” As you juggle the responsibilities of caring for a loved one through an illness or crisis, as well as the every day, ongoing daily tasks, ranging from family to career, those offers of help can be both a welcome relief and additional burden. Here at Lotsa Helping Hands, hundreds of thousands of caregivers have accepted community help during times of need. We recognize that you may find all those offers of help overwhelming, so here are a few ideas to empower you the next time you hear that question.

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The DOs and DON’Ts of Caregiving

By: Alexandra Axel, The Caregiver Space
Do you want to give a caregiver in your life a break? Here’s what NOT to do.

When a loved one develops a health problem, typically one family member serves as the primary caregiver, depending on geographic distance from, or relationship to, the patient. In an ideal world, the rest of the family steps in to give the primary caregiver some respite.  But sometimes, relatives hoping to help can end up doing more harm then good.

 

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For Our Loved Ones: How to Support Someone With Cancer

Have you ever needed to know how to support someone with cancer? Have you delivered a meal to a mother with breast cancer juggling care for her children or offered to drive a friend to a chemotherapy session? Chances are, if you have helped a person with cancer you have experienced the profound emotions that come with helping, from great joy and relief that, indeed, there is something that you can actually do to make a difference — to sadness for what your loved one is experiencing.

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Your Real Age – 8 Tips to Help Caregivers Find Their Inner Child

Contributed by Guest Blogger, Sherri Snelling

I recently celebrated my birthday and it got me to thinking about our “real age.”  Whenever I meet a friend for coffee the conversation now turns to our latest health issue (we are at that age) – hurt knees from running, migraines from changing hormones, sun spots on our face, wrinkles on our foreheads, and intestinal rumblings from last night’s Mexican food.  And, when the bill comes, we all hold the check back about 12 inches so we can read it (always forgetting the reading glasses which are now common among my friends).  However, we marvel at how we don’t see ourselves as our real age – and as friends we even comfort each other that we certainly don’t look our real age either.

As we grow older and start to care for aging parents, what is our risk as caregivers for being “older” than our real age because we often neglect our own health and wellness needs?

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