As a family caregiver, it’s common to manage a wide range of emotions throughout each day. When caregiver guilt strikes, use these tips to prevent these emotions from interfering with your wellbeing.
Practice Self-Acceptance
It’s important to accept that even your negative emotions are normal. Guilt is a natural reaction to trying to be everything to everyone. Practicing self-acceptance allows you to prevent letting feelings such as anger and frustration affect the quality of care you provide to your senior loved one.
Adjust How You Spend Your Time
Being a caregiver requires spending long hours helping someone else. However, you may need to reconsider how you look at the time you spend. When you feel guilty about not spending enough time with your loved one, plan activities that enhance the quality of your time together. For example, looking at family pictures may give you both greater satisfaction than if you were to spend hours scouring the kitchen.
If you’re the primary family caregiver for an elderly loved one and need additional assistance providing high-quality elder care, Assisting Hands Home Care can help. We are a leading home care agency committed to helping seniors live longer and healthier lives.
Act from a Place of Love
Adult children often feel as though they’re repaying a debt by caring for their aging parents. However, you don’t owe anyone anything. Instead, look at your role as coming from a place of love. This can help you prevent feeling as though you’re not doing enough.
Realize the Importance of Independence
Finding ways to do things independently promotes better health and longevity for older adults, and you shouldn’t feel guilty for finding ways to help your loved one perform daily tasks. Giving your loved one a pill dispenser or mobility aid can enhance his or her self-esteem while freeing up valuable time you can spend bonding.
Whether you need respite from your caregiving duties or your aging loved one needs live-in care, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Assisting Hands Home Care can meet your family’s care needs. Our dedicated caregivers are available around the clock to provide transportation to doctor’s appointments, ensure seniors take their prescribed medications, and help with a variety of tasks in and outside the home.
Listen to Your Heart
Everyone seems to have advice when you’re a family caregiver, and falling for peer pressure may lead to biting off more than you can chew. Instead of feeling guilty because you don’t meet other people’s expectations, recruit help to meet your loved one’s needs while also finding time to nurture your spirit so you can always greet your loved one with a happy heart.
If you have a senior loved one who needs help maintaining a high quality of life while aging in place, reach out to Assisting Hands Home Care, a leading provider of home care Fort Lauderdale families can trust. Our caregivers help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and we offer mentally stimulating activities that can boost cognitive health and delay the onset of dementia. Rely on the professionals at Assisting Hands Home Care to provide high-quality compassionate care for your loved one. Give us a call today to learn about our flexible in-home care plans.
