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All too many times overwhelmed caregivers are physically and emotionally depleted and need to take time to rest and care for themselves. Believing in a holistic approach to caregiver stress and a strong commitment to helping our members find the right solutions, we created this blog to help you connect with others who, like you, may be facing the same eldercare issues and challenges. Feel free to comment, ask questions, and submit articles. Please forward the blog link to your family and friends. They'll be glad you did.

Warm regards,

Patricia Grace
founder & CEO
Aging with Grace

Friday, February 20, 2009

Help with Caregiving Responsibilities

What’s a good response to the statement, “Call me if you need me?” Despite the fact that family caregivers are drowning in responsibility or may be confused about what to do next, they find it so hard to ask for help. Even when help is offered, often they respond “no thanks”.

Here are six steps to getting help…

  • Recognize that care giving, like any job, is made up of lots of individual tasks, not all of which are of the same importance.
  • Recognize that asking for help is a sign of strength and not of weakness.
  • Create a list of the tasks that need to get done in any given week.
  • Group your tasks into categories such as personal care tasks for your loved one, transportation, household chores.
  • Write down your care giving worries. Seeing them in black-and-white helps diffuse some of their emotion.
  • Share your lists with someone you trust before you actually reach out for help.

Then take a deep breath and actually ask someone to help with one of the tasks on your list, or seek guidance in resolving your most persistent worry. 

1 comment:

  1. I am so tired of asking my brothers for help and getting the same excuse...they have too much on their plate. Well I have 2 full plates mine and my parents. Somehow they think that I am an only child!

    ReplyDelete

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