Bravo, Caregivers! You are an angel who is very important to your loved one living with dementia although he/she might not have told you so, at times their behaviours might even seem to suggest the opposite. Caregiving is highly demanding, both physically and mentally. And your loved one needs you to be well and happy in order for you to be able to continue to be a caregiver. Yes, you need to take care of yourself and your well-being for the person whom you are currently caring for. Take care of yourself and your well-being is not just for yourself but for him /her too!
Caregiving can be a positive experience rather than a stressful and negative experience. Mindfulness and the ability to reframe one’s interpretation of day-to-day situations as they arise, especially those ‘challenging’ situations, are extremely important to create positive experiences for your loved ones and yourself.
From years of personal experiences with loved ones living with dementia, I realised that the following are crucial elements of positive caregiving:
- Good understanding of what dementia is and the experience and feelings of the person living with dementia
- Patience
- Compassion
- Acceptance
- Letting go
- Ability to choose one’s response in a given situation
Don’t struggle alone with caregiving. Let us help you and take some stress and frustration away from you!
Click here for more information on Caregiving Burnout Prevention Program
Delay no further. ACT Now!
1) Click here for more information on Dementia Caregiver Burnout Prevention Program and more. Burnout can be prevented by
- Understanding more about dementia
- Working together with us to help you understand the reason for certain behaviours displayed by your loved ones with dementia and discover what you can do to stay cool and calm instead of losing your cool at your loved ones.
- Knowing the approaches to uncover the existing strengths of your loved one and how you can empower him/her to still lead a meaningful and dignified life.
CLICK here to sign up for our SkillsFuture-approved 1-day Understanding Dementia & Applying the Strength-Based Approach in Dementia Care (Basic) on 13 Mar 2019 at Singapore Shopping Centre. Limited seats only!
3) Frailty, losing one’s strength or one’s ability to walk is not uncommon for people with dementia as the disease progresses. Caring for your loved ones then will require you to help them transfer to and fro a wheelchair or mobility equipment in order to help them get around. You need to be physically strong and have sufficient muscles to help you perform these daily transfer which happens more than once a day. You are also ageing, and will also be experiencing sarcopenia – loss of muscles as a result of normal ageing. Click here to Learn more about strength training so that you can build and maintain your muscles to help you with your caregiving.
4) Some of our past articles may be helpful for you too. Click on the following articles for immediate aid.
4 WAYS TO MAINTAIN SANITY FOR CAREGIVERS FOR PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA Jul 2017
S.M.I.L.E WHEN CARING FOR YOUR LOVED ONES WITH DEMENTIA Sep 2017
CAREGIVERS! PUT ON YOUR OXYGEN MASK FIRST Dec 2017
FALL PREVENTION 101 – BUILD MUSCLES Jan 2018
APPETITE CHANGES AND DEMENTIA Feb 2018
‘CHALLENGING BEHAVIOURS’ ARE UNMET NEEDS IN ACTION Mar 2018
COMING TO TERMS WITH DEMENTIA: WHAT WOULD BUDDHA DO? May 2018