Towards a Stress-Free Caregiving Journey
To all my Caregivers out there, you are an important lot of people!
Words that I’ve heard from some of you in describing your caregiving journey include:
- Rewarding
- Frustrating
- A journey filled with personal growth
- Stressful
- An adventure filled with unknowns and new discoveries
- Tiring
- Emotionally draining
- Lost
- Positive
- Bonding time
Caregiving is like the heart-shaped island in the picture. It is done with love and compassion. On days, the water is calm and the atmosphere is peaceful and joyful. There are days when the water is choppy with huge waves, gushing inland, threatening to rip off everything that is in its path, threatening to flood the island of heart. Caregiving, if done without adequate planning and self-care, can take a toll on your health and wellbeing. According to studies done on the effects of caregiving and health and well-being, the combination of physical demands of caregiving, loss, and prolonged stress not only puts one at risk for health problems but also earlier deaths. To add on, biological vulnerabilities with increasing age put caregivers aged between 66 and 96 at a 63% higher risk of dying relative to their peers if they are experiencing emotional or mental strain from caregiving. In general, caregivers have been found to be more likely to suffer from at least one chronic diseases including high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes, coupled with a tendency of being overweight. Caregivers also have a higher risk for depression, in fact, WebMD states that about 40-70% of caregivers have depressive symptoms.
In this September, as we are all still battling with the Covid-19 pandemic, I like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all caregivers out there for your love, commitment and hard work to keep your loved ones safe and happy.
Your loved ones depend on you. Apply the CACR technique to build your confidence, competence and wellbeing through judicious planning of your caregiving journey and smooth implementation. Constant review of your caregiving efforts and the outcomes will also help to improve the caregiving journey and results from your hard work. Click on the video to find out more about the CACR technique which I spoke about last month.