Five Effective Ways to Relieve Holiday Stress for Caregivers

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A woman who knows how to relieve holiday stress for caregivers smiles and helps her elderly mother prepare holiday treats.

Learn how to relieve holiday stress for caregivers and enjoy all the fun and festivities of the season.

What do you wish for most this holiday season? Financial security? Good health for your loved ones? Peace on earth? What if you could relieve holiday stress for caregivers and simply enjoy the warmth and beauty of the season? What a gift that would be!

Caregiving can be overwhelming any time of the year, but the holiday season can send your stress level off the charts. There are ways, however, to alleviate holiday stress and truly enjoy this special time of year. Our care experts recommend the following small steps that can make a big difference.

Alter traditions. If you have always been the one to host large family holiday gatherings, consider passing the torch to another person. If the thought of lugging out each and every holiday decoration is overwhelming, choose several of your favorite items and leave the remainder in the attic this year. Find strategies to simplify and establish new traditions that place less pressure on you.

Downsize gifting. Searching for the perfect gift for everyone on your extended friends and family list can consume quite a lot of your holiday time (and money!). There are numerous fun ways to simplify the process. For instance, have each family member choose a name and purchase a gift for that person only. Then plan a potluck dinner with each person bringing a favorite dish and exchanging gifts.

Be honest and open. Forget about putting on a mask to cover up what’s really going on in your life. Let family and close friends in on the struggles your loved one is facing and how it is impacting you. Sharing from the heart with those you trust to listen and understand is an incredible relief in and of itself.

Intentionally focus on the positives. Gratitude is a great tool for changing your outlook and mood. Create a simple gratitude journal in which you record what you are most thankful for, and invest some time each day reading through and reflecting on your list, adding to it as new thankful thoughts arise.

Enlist help. Caregiving should never be a solo endeavor. Taking regular breaks for self-care benefits both the person in your care and yourself. Let family and friends know exactly what they can do to help, and then do not think twice about accepting that support. Our caregivers are always available to help as well!

How Can Home Care Help Relieve Holiday Stress for Caregivers?

Our caregivers are alleviating stress for families like yours each and every day—during the holiday season and throughout the year! Our services are highly customized to allow older adults and their loved ones to select the tasks they would like help with, while maintaining what they prefer to do themselves.

Contact Responsive Home Care at 954-486-6440 for a free consultation to find out how we can partner with you in caring for someone you love in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Deerfield Beach, and the surrounding areas. Then take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy every precious moment with those you love!

Are You Prepared for the Responsibilities of Hospital Care at Home?

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A woman in a wheelchair receiving hospital care at home is assisted by her adult daughter.

It’s important to understand and prepare for your role before agreeing to hospital care at home for a loved one.

No one wants to spend any more time than needed in the hospital. The aim is to get the necessary treatment or procedure over with as quickly as possible and move on to recovering. Unsurprisingly, the growing trend in hospital care at home is one being met with open arms. Imagine being able to avoid:

  • Isolation and loneliness from short visiting hour periods
  • The risk of infection inherent in a hospitalization
  • The need to share a room with somebody else who is ill
  • Institutional food
  • The bright lights, alarms, and bells that make sleeping difficult

Hospital level care in the home allows someone whose condition is serious yet stable to receive visits from clinicians and any necessary medical equipment—so treatment is provided in the most comfortable and least restrictive environment.

There is nothing not to love about such a program, right?

The Downside to Receiving Hospital Care at Home

While the benefits of in-home hospital care are incredible, there’s one main factor to take into consideration: are you ready and equipped to serve as the caregiver for a family member who is critically ill? While physicians and nurses visit the home and are available by telehealth sessions for questions, the majority of care falls on the family.

“In the hospital, if something happens, they know how to take care of it,” explains Clare Semling, whose husband participated in a hospital-at-home program. “Now it’s on you.”

It’s important for family members to participate in the decision-making process about a loved one receiving hospital care in the home, and also to be made aware of the implications it will mean in their own lives. For instance, you’ll need to think through:

  • What will you do in the event of an emergency?
  • Can you handle getting up as required during the night to check on the person, help them to the bathroom, etc.?
  • Are you ok with having clinical staff coming in and out of the home at regular intervals?
  • Will you be able to manage medications and ensure they’re taken as directed?

Also, think about your current commitments and responsibilities: caring for children, taking care of household chores and errands, working outside of the home, and other important activities such as spending time with your spouse, nurturing relationships with friends and other friends, participating in hobbies and pastimes you enjoy, engaging in healthy lifestyle choices, etc.

It can be helpful to create a quick estimate of how much time you currently have available to care for a family member at home, considering all of the factors above. If it feels unmanageable or overwhelming, seek out help.

Responsive Home Care is here to help if a loved one chooses to receive hospital-at-home care. We can provide medication reminders, run errands, prepare meals, and take the night shift if you would like, enabling you to maintain the healthy life balance you need. Contact us at 954-486-6440 for more information on how we can help with personalized in-home care services in Fort Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point, Hollywood, and the surrounding communities.

Why Providing Care for Your Spouse Can Cause Resentment – And How to Overcome It

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A woman who knows that providing care for your spouse can cause resentment hugs her husband as they both look out the window.

Providing care for your spouse can open up a new realm of emotions you may not have expected.

You both promised to look after each other through better or worse, in sickness and in health. When these cherished sentiments are first spoken on your wedding day, it is difficult to imagine how it will feel to actually live them out when providing care for your spouse. It may come as a shock to you that anger, frustration, and resentment can go hand-in-hand with fulfilling your vows when caregiving for your spouse.

How Can I Resent Caring for the Person I Love the Most?

In a nutshell, providing care for your spouse is overwhelming, both physically and emotionally. You may feel:

  • Unappreciated and taken for granted
  • Concerned about your spouse’s prognosis
  • Frustrated from insufficient time for self-care
  • Stretched too thin
  • Angry or irritated for inexplicable reasons

All of these feelings are valid and completely normal, even if unexpected – and there are things you can do to overcome them while strengthening your relationship with your spouse.

How to Conquer Spousal Caregiving Resentment

Set and maintain boundaries. Remind yourself that you are human, and you cannot (and shouldn’t attempt to) do it all. Setting an unattainable bar for yourself as a caregiver will quickly result in depression, burnout, and a reduced quality of care for your spouse. Identify realistic expectations that are in line with your strengths and abilities, and bring in help for the rest.

Face your emotions. You might be trying to cover up how you feel to keep the peace, but it’s important to find a safe space to vent. Caregiving is stressful on many levels, and identifying a strong network of support is a must. Speak regularly with a trusted friend or family member, counselor, or spiritual guide.

Explore couples therapy. A professional marriage counselor can be helpful to both of you individually and as a couple. You will gain the tools you need to resolve disputes in a healthy way, to better understand each other’s perspective, to better manage feelings of resentment, and to improve communication. The therapist can also provide you with referrals to other helpful resources as appropriate.

Take care of YOU. If you think of self-care as selfish, think again. Taking care of yourself empowers you to take better care of your spouse. Carve out and prioritize time for pastimes you enjoy, socializing with friends and other family members, and stress-relieving activities: exercise, reading, journaling, listening to music, being outdoors.

Responsive Home Care is here to serve as your partner in care to help you restore a healthier life balance and to rediscover the joy of spending quality time with your spouse. Contact us at (954) 486-6440 to ask about our respite care services and to request a free in-home consultation to learn more about the many ways we can help. Our services are available in Fort Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point, Hollywood, and the surrounding areas.

Having Hard Conversations While Caregiving

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Two women stand in the kitchen with cups of coffee, having hard conversations while caregiving.

Having hard conversations while caregiving is key to maintaining healthy family relationships.

Any time you dedicate so much time to caring for a senior member of the family, it is natural for other relationships to take a back seat. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day, and you can only spread yourself so thin. This may result in additional stress, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings.

The answer to overcoming this obstacle is communication. This means having hard conversations while caregiving, which may be uncomfortable but allow the opportunity to air grievances, share feelings, and ultimately reinforce the love you have for each other.

Having Hard Conversations While Caregiving

First, understand that a planned, formal meeting is not necessary for a conversation to be effective. It can be a quick chat while waiting for the coffee to brew. It should not, however, be a triggered response to a stress-inducing incident. Plan to talk about a concern before the stress has an opportunity to build up to an explosive level (or when you’ve had the opportunity to settle down).

Here is an example scenario and how to include a courageous conversation. Your teenage daughter is feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable bringing friends over because of the dementia-related behaviors of your elderly parent. Begin with this brief assessment to gauge the answers for yourself along with your teen:

  • What do we need from each other?
  • What goals do we wish to accomplish from this conversation?
  • What do we have to give and receive?
  • What do we want each other to know?
  • What exactly are each of us feeling and thinking?

Include in your assessment the feelings of the individual in your care as well. In particular, prior to the cognitive decline, determine what your mom would want for you personally as well as your daughter.

With this framework in mind, allow yourself to be honest, authentic, and vulnerable. Listen to each other’s viewpoint respectfully, offer empathy and understanding, and collaborate to create a viable solution.

Is It Better Left Unsaid?

You might feel as though it’s simpler to maintain status quo than to risk upsetting a family member by initiating a challenging conversation. And certainly, situations may arise that are best resolved through another means, like speaking with a professional therapist to unravel your feelings and thoughts before approaching someone else with them. As a general rule of thumb, however, nothing beats open, honest communication to allow you and those you care about to better understand one another.

Let a Responsive Home Care caregiver help you carve out time for the conversations you need with other members of the family by providing skilled, professional in-home care for the person you love. Contact us at (954) 486-6440 for more information regarding our home care in Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, and the surrounding areas.

How Caregivers Can Prioritize Privacy

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A woman who knows how caregivers can prioritize privacy smiles as she reads a book and holds a cup of coffee in a sunny room.

It’s vitally important to know how caregivers can prioritize privacy to achieve a healthy life balance.

Reflect back to your teenage years. Remember how important it was to find a safe place to be on your own, to shut out the world, turn the music up, and write your most secret thoughts in your diary?

The desire for privacy that began then can become overshadowed when providing care for someone else. Yet it is still extremely important to know how caregivers can prioritize privacy, both physically and mentally, to take time for self-care.

How Can a Caregiver Prioritize Privacy?

Frankly, it isn’t always easy. You might feel as though you need to always have at least one ear and eye open to the needs of the person in your care. There are several steps you can take to help, however. Try:

  • Designating a spot of privacy for both yourself and the older adult. After all, they need privacy as much as you do. Agree that whenever either of you needs some alone time, you can retreat to your chosen spot and only interrupt one another in case of an urgent situation.
  • Determining house rules. In shared living spaces, put together some basic rules of etiquette that are fair for everyone. For example, take turns choosing TV shows to watch, so one person isn’t monopolizing the remote. Compromises similar to this can make together time less stressful for everyone.
  • Considering emotional privacy. Make sure to take frequent breaks from care that allow you time to disconnect completely from your care role. Go on trips, attend events and activities with other friends and family members, take a book to the park for a stress-free afternoon. Responsive Home Care’s care experts are always on hand to fill your caregiving shoes when you take some time for self-care.

Special Considerations for Dementia

If the person in your care is struggling with the challenges of dementia, finding privacy becomes more challenging – and much more vital to obtain. The person may need 24/7 oversight to ensure safety, but this doesn’t mean that you should (or can) provide that level of care yourself.

We frequently hear from primary family caregivers that there is not anyone in their circle of close friends and family who knows the senior or the requirements of dementia care well enough to assist. This is when our specially trained and experienced dementia caregivers are an invaluable part of your care team. We can partner with you to ensure the seamless, reliable, skilled care a senior with dementia needs, while you take the regular breaks from care you need.

Contact us at (954) 486-6440 for further tips on how caregivers can prioritize privacy and find help in acquiring a healthier life balance. Our personalized home care services are offered in Coconut Creek, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, and the surrounding areas.

Understanding the Red Flags of Caregiver PTSD

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A female family caregiver sits on couch with knees pulled up and head buried in her arms on top of her knees.

What are the red flags of caregiver PTSD and how can family caregivers get help?

If you think PTSD only happens to individuals who have experienced life-threatening danger, think again. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) can occur after any traumatic event or experience. It may surprise you to discover that providing care for a loved one is one of the main causes of PTSD. Nevertheless, the condition frequently goes undetected, and thus untreated. This is because the individual receiving care is normally the primary focus of both healthcare providers and the family at large.

As a family caregiver, it is important to know the red flags of caregiver PTSD – which are noticeably different from other types of PTSD – and to seek help if you are experiencing them. These include:

  • Apathy: You may feel empty, numb, and emotionally detached from loved ones. This can take place in conjunction with compassion fatigue.
  • Flashbacks: Reliving a distressing experience can bring about the same degree of emotion as when the event occurred.
  • Pain: Both physical and emotional pain can be overwhelming and unrelenting. This may include stomach upset and headaches along with feelings of anguish and hopelessness.
  • Anxiety: Heightened anxiety about your family member’s health and wellbeing may be particularly noticeable at night, and can lead to night terrors.

Why Are Caregivers at Risk for PTSD?

There are many factors that come into play to produce the perfect storm for caregiver PTSD, including:

  • The overwhelming responsibilities involved with caregiving: from day-to-day care tasks to managing life-changing medical and financial decisions on a loved one’s behalf
  • Hospitalizations and other emergency situations that arise
  • Challenging family dynamics and complex emotions such as guilt, remorse, hopelessness, and helplessness
  • Grief over a range of losses: watching a loved one’s health diminish, experiencing a relationship shift from simply being a family member to being in a caregiver role, being unable to live life as it was in the past, and more

What Should You Do if You Detect the Red Flags of Caregiver PTSD?

The initial step is to consult with your primary care physician to describe the symptoms you are encountering. You’ll want to rule out any other medical conditions, especially if you’re experiencing any physical pain.

It is additionally important to locate a therapist who is specially trained in treating people with PTSD. There are excellent treatment options, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) therapy, in addition to individual, family, or group counseling.

Taking regular breaks from your caregiving role is also extremely important. Let friends and family members know that you’re struggling and that you could use further support. Caregiving should not be a one-person responsibility. Allowing others to step up and help benefits the person you are providing care for as well, providing them with additional opportunities for social connections.

How Does Home Care Help?

Responsive Home Care’s in-home respite care services allow you to take the time away you’ll need for self-care while knowing a loved one is receiving excellent care. Taking care of yourself is key to providing the best care for your family member. Contact us online or call us at (954) 486-6440 to learn more. Responsive Home Care serves seniors in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Plantation, Hollywood, Lighthouse Point, and throughout the surrounding areas.

Here’s What to Avoid During Chemotherapy

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: Do you know what to avoid during chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is, without a doubt, a potentially life-saving journey. However, during the process of destroying harmful cancer cells, noncancerous cells can be in the crossfire, leading to challenging side effects. The physician will offer guidelines on what cancer patients should do to minimize these effects, but it’s just as important to know what to avoid during chemotherapy. Read more

Keeping a Sense of Purpose for Seniors Leads to a More Fulfilling Life

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Learn the importance of maintaining a sense of purpose for seniors.

What motivates you to push forward every day? If you are part of the sandwich generation, taking care of both older and younger loved ones, your list is probably quite long! However, for aging adults, as the nest empties, it becomes important to redefine their identity and learn new ways to bring meaning to each day. Read more

Starting Home Care: What to do When Family Is in Denial

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When a family member refuses the need for parents starting home care, we have tips to help.

Once you realize that an aging loved one could benefit from starting home care services, it’s not uncommon for the aging loved one to be resistant to the idea. After all, acknowledging the need for assistance is not easy, especially for an individual who values their privacy and independence. However, it gets more challenging when another family member is the one in denial about starting home care. When you’ve reached an impasse within your family in regards to the need for senior care, there’s one very likely culprit to consider: denial. Read more

Staying Present as a Caregiver: How to Avoid Caregiver Boredom

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bored caregiver

Learn how to stay present as a caregiver and avoid caregiver boredom.

No caregiver is proud of it, but it’s also difficult for any caregiver to avoid. Becoming tired of your role as family caregiver is a common reaction to spending so much time together, performing the exact same tasks, engaging in exactly the same activities, and running out of intriguing conversation topics. Your struggle in staying present as a caregiver is not in any way related to your feelings for the individual in your care. In fact, they might be feeling just as bored with a stagnant routine.

How can you breathe new life into your caregiving relationship? If you’ve been struggling with staying present as a caregiver, our care team has some ideas you can implement to help.

Break Out of the Norm. Take a mental walk through the routines you’ve established, and think about ways to implement changes. Have you been preparing the same bowl of cereal every morning? Search online for cookbook recipes and try a new one with the person you care for once a week. Rather than those morning talk or game shows, switch off the TV and go for a walk together. Drive a different route to the doctor’s office or beauty shop to see some new sights.

Celebrate! You don’t need an official reason to get the party started! There are so many unique and lesser-known holidays to pick from, for example, National Polar Bear Day, Toast Day, Tell a Fairy Tale Day, and Comfy Day – and those are just a handful of reasons to celebrate in the last week of February! Or why not designate your very own? All it requires is a little creative thinking as you look around your environment, select something you’re thankful for, and think about ways to make it the star of the day.

Tap Into Your Imagination. Do you remember how vibrant your imagination was as a child? It can be just as fun as an adult! As you are waiting at the doctor’s office, take a look at the people around you, and try to picture an extraordinary story of their lives. Encourage the aging loved one to do the same, and share your stories on the ride home. Practicing mindfulness is another way to fully engage in the moment as opposed to dully observing from the sidelines. Use all five senses to experience your surroundings in a new and intriguing way.

Plan Something Fun. Come up with fun activities and new experiences you can plan and do with the aging loved one. These can be as simple as trying a brand new restaurant in town or traveling to a destination they have always wanted to visit but never had the opportunity. If traveling with the older adult seems too daunting, consider bringing along a professional caregiver from Responsive Home Care! We are always available to help make dreams come true for the older adults we serve.

Let Responsive Home Care help you with staying present as a caregiver by providing breaks from care that give both of you the opportunity for experiences outside of each other’s company, allowing for interesting conversations to have when you’re together again. Contact us online or at (954) 486-6440 to learn more about our home health care in Plantation and the nearby areas!

Tips for Increasing Caregiving Patience: It Takes Practice!

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patient-caregiver

Taking care of an aging adult can be tiresome, but these tips can help you with increasing caregiving patience.

Does waiting in line at the grocery store make you want to pull your hair out? Do you get antsy when the doctor is running behind for your appointment? Some people just appear to project a natural sense of patience, no matter what the circumstances. Wouldn’t you like to know their secret, particularly when it comes increasing caregiver patience in caring for a loved one?

Thankfully, it is possible to increase your level of patience in much the same manner in which you increase your endurance in exercising – through practice. Try these recommendations to help with increasing caregiver patience:

How Do I Become More Patient?

  • It’s OK to not fix the problem immediately. Allow something that is broken to remain broken for some time as opposed to pressuring yourself to quickly deal with it.
  • Take a beat, and truly listen when others are speaking. It’s easy to begin formulating your response before the person has finished, but strive to place all your concentration instead on everything they are saying.
  • Attempt to channel your inner child. Let yourself laugh more, be silly, and remind yourself not to permit the small things that irritate you to become big things. A little lightening up and letting go can go a considerable way towards getting rid of stress.
  • Focus on being in the moment. When your thoughts begin to wander, recognize the distraction, but gently guide your thinking back to your breathing.
  • Deliberately put yourself in circumstances that necessitate patience. Let someone go ahead of you next time you’re standing in line. Make yourself wait a few moments (or more!) prior to checking your phone. Initiate a conversation with an individual who tests your patience.
  • Accept your present circumstances. Perhaps the person you’re caring for is taking a lot longer to get dressed than you’d like. Remind yourself that your job is to provide care but to also allow the person to stay as independent as possible, and often that will call for allowing some additional time and a good measure of patience.

When time is of the essence, however, it becomes all the harder to stay patient. Let a caregiver from Responsive Home Care help. We are available to provide a full range of home care in Lighthouse Point and the nearby areas that will help you free up the time you need. Reach out to us at (954) 486-6440 to find out more information and to ask about a free in-home consultation.

New Year’s Resolutions While Caring for Someone with Alzheimer’s

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2023-alzheimers-resolution

These New Year’s resolutions can help you better prepare for caring for someone with Alzheimer’s in 2023!

While everyone else is focusing on getting more exercise, dropping a few pounds, or sticking to an insufferable diet, as a caregiver caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, just getting through each day will be challenging enough for you. The notion of striving to improve upon any part of your life in this unsettling time can be overwhelming.

At Responsive Home Care, we want to boost your morale. We realize caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is often both frustrating and rewarding, and we’re here to support you by any means we can. To start, we have compiled some resolutions just for Alzheimer’s caregivers that can actually help make your journey a bit easier.

What Resolutions Are Good for a Dementia Caregiver?

Take a step back, and consider the following:

  • Make time for you. Of course, that’s easier said than done. But taking time for yourself is vital to both your quality of life and that of the person you are taking care of. It does not need to be anything elaborate or extensive, unless you want it to be. Merely carving out a couple of hours once a week for an activity you like can provide the rejuvenation you need. A reliable family member or friend can fill in while you’re away, or contact Responsive Home Care for a trained, experienced caregiver to help.
  • Remind yourself that you know what is best. Family caregivers may find themselves surrounded by well-intentioned people who wish to offer advice. While their ideas may work well for other people, they may not be applicable in your situation. Listen respectfully to any advice offered and thank the individual for the idea, but then ultimately trust your judgment in making the ideal care decisions for your circumstances.
  • Take it easy on yourself. At the end of the day, you are human, and it’s inevitable to slip up from time to time. Resolve that this will be the year that you thoroughly rid yourself of any guilt, and in exchange remind yourself that you are doing the very best you can to help make life better for the person you love.

For help with caring for someone with Alzheimer’s and for some additional helpful resources, contact Responsive Home Care any time. We will be pleased to visit with you in your home at no cost to talk about the challenges you are facing and to provide creative solutions to help, such as:

  • Help with aggression, wandering, agitation, repetitive behaviors, sundowning, and more
  • Planning and preparing meals based on individual preferences
  • Providing engaging activities and conversations to keep both mind and body active
  • Support as needed with personal hygiene tasks, while cultivating independence
  • Transportation and accompaniment to appointments and outings
  • And much more

Call us at (954) 486-6440 for more information about our services and how a home health aide in Fort Lauderdale, FL and the nearby areas can help.