Caregiving Category Professional

Caregiving, being a caregiver, caregiver support, caregiver overwhelm, caring for aging parents, caring for a spouse; the job is never ending, 24/7, non-stop, no-pay. Caregivers are overwhelmed, physically and emotionally exhausted, frustrated, angry, and guilty. Real solutions and support are here. No fluff. Real answers to give caregivers confidence in abilities and decision making. Uncomfortable and honest discussions about being an overbearing or a caring caregiver, caregiver overwhelm, caregiving demands, when parents need 24-hour care, caregiving conversations, decision making, and the impossible duties of being a caregiver. You may have it any other way (would you?) but you’d like caregiving to be a little easier. Join Pamela on the learning journey to lower stress, anxiety, and avoid crises.

May, one of the finest months of spring is the month of Mother’s Day. For those of us who have lost a mother, this day ceases to be a day of celebration and becomes a day of remembrance. If we are a mother and have children it is both a day of celebration and remembrance. My mother passed away suddenly in March 1995 at the age of 69. I was 34 and the passing of my mother resulted in a total re-evaluation of my life and a career change to my work in the aging and healthcare industry as an advocate and an educator.

A meal site volunteer called to ask my assistance when she received a call from a woman who said she had no food and needed groceries. The volunteer provided a telephone number saying that the woman was at a neighbor’s house and did not have her own telephone.

How often do caregivers feel that they are constantly running from place to place with a list of “to dos” rarely completed and a care recipient waiting on the other end demanding time and attention? If you are a caregiver this may describe your day to day reality; never enough time in the day and never any time for you.

Resilience is a learned skill that allows us to “bounce back” when things don’t go our way; a flat tire, an argument with a family member, a parent or loved one who refuses help, an unexpected medical diagnoses, a client who tells us we did not meet their expectations, a friend who always asks for help but who never gives, the leaky sink in the kitchen that never seems to be repaired and the long list of “to dos” that we never quite seem to complete.

Being helpful instead of preventative. Why clients should choose you versus your competition.

Stress is prevalent. We work long hours, we worry more than we should, and we constantly rush from here to there attempting to cross items off a long to do list. We fail to take care of ourselves. Research has shown for years that more heart attacks occur on Monday mornings because the stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline are present in higher levels on this day of the week. After a relaxing weekend, many of us experience stress as the result of the thought and action of returning to work on Monday morning.