These are important tips for family caregivers and everyone else, too. There is always the possibility that you will either be a caregiver or need one at some point in your life. It’s smart to prepare for the hard winter of the caregiving season by taking care of yourself, and it isn’t selfish to do so.

Okay, so what does it mean to be a family caregiver?

Family caregivers provide an average of 23.7 hours of care each week. This number goes up substantially for those whose care recipients live with them (37.4 hours per week), making caregiving the equivalent to a full-time job.–Ashley Huntsberry-Lett

I think the hours are on the light side for live-in caregivers, especially during the pandemic. But, unfortunately, I can tell you firsthand that paid caregivers are few and far between because we’ve been without help for almost four months.

According to Aging Care, there are šŸ“šŸ‘ š¦š¢š„š„š¢šØš§ š€š¦šžš«š¢šœššš§š¬ providing unpaid care for relatives and friends (Click here for a full report on caregiving in the US, with more 2020 stats and info).

Four tips for caregivers

1. Identify anticipatory grief where it exists and take steps to relieve it in healthy ways.⁠
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2. Prevent overwhelming fatigue by taking good care of yourself first so you can care for your loved ones.⁠
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3. Please don’t let guilt for things you can’t change weigh you down. It is a waste of your precious energy.⁠
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4. Don’t forget that š¬š©š«š¢š§š  ššš„š°ššš²š¬ šŸšØš„š„šØš°š¬ š°š¢š§š­šžš«, so be ready to enjoy it.⁠

Caregiver, friend, please take care of yourself. It’s essential for you, the loved one you care for, and the rest of your family and friends.

Take care, friends. You can do this!⁠ But it’s a lot easier with Jesus by your side.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, ā€œHumanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.ā€Matthew 19:26 (NLT)

š˜š˜§ š˜ŗš˜°š˜¶ š˜¢š˜³š˜¦, š˜©š˜¢š˜·š˜¦ š˜£š˜¦š˜¦š˜Æ, š˜°š˜³ š˜¬š˜Æš˜°š˜ø š˜¢ š˜¤š˜¢š˜³š˜¦š˜Øš˜Ŗš˜·š˜¦š˜³, š˜±š˜­š˜¦š˜¢š˜“š˜¦ š˜„š˜³š˜°š˜± š˜¢ ā¤ļø š˜Ŗš˜Æ š˜µš˜©š˜¦ š˜¤š˜°š˜®š˜®š˜¦š˜Æš˜µš˜“, or share a tip or two of your own.

 

Huntsberry-Lett, A. (2021, October 28).Ā Caregiver statistics: Facts about family caregivers. AgingCare.com. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.agingcare.com/articles/who-are-family-caregivers-459287.htm

Photo by Heye Jensen on Unsplash

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