Caregiver support

  Below are ideas to help you be an effective Caregiver and to help you prevent  becoming overwhelmed. You want to be at your best to help your loved one:

Take care of yourself – THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT  - However it is  most Important that you as the Caregiver take time for yourself, eat a proper diet, take time to sleep, drink plenty of clean water, read a book, ask others to help or find help from a neighbor, community support program, a relative or a friend. When you ask others for HELP, you may be surprised. If you as the Caregiver wear yourself out, you can become moody, frustrated quickly, make poor decision’s, and create tension and frustration with the patient. This tension and stress is unhealthy and will lead to a poor recovery for both you and the patient.

Build a TEAM – You can not do everything yourself. The patient may be capable to do some things on their own. Discuss with the patient what they would like to try on their own to help their recovery and encourage them to try other necessary day to day life necessities. Reach out to Family and Friends for help. Make schedules for rotation of Caregivers. Seek help from Community Programs, Churches, Social Clubs, Neighbors. Practice good Social Media skills.

Decision Making – When a decision needs to be made, always ask the patient what they want, encourage them to discuss the problem with professionals and family members before they make a decision. Respect their choice unless their decision will create danger to others Having a big sale, on-site celebrity, or other event? Be sure to announce it so everybody knows and gets excited about it.

Long Term Hospital Stays - as a caregiver you DO NOT NEED to stay in the Hospital with the patient 24 hours a day. The patient needs time to be alone, they need rest and recovery. The Nursing Staff will take care of them. 

NUTRITION -  WARNING - MAKE CERTAIN THE PATIENT IS ALLOWED FOOD 

 Hospital food is usually full of SUGAR and most of the time will be delivered to the patient warm at best. It most likely is not organic, contains horrible preservatives, chemicals, and who knows what. As a Caregiver one of the best things you can do to help the patient is to find an organic restaurant outside of the hospital and bring REAL FOOD to the patient. This is a GREAT way for the Caregiver to get time to be alone have some time to shop, talk to others, who knows, you might even find a new friend. You might even find that the restaurant, grocery store or wherever might donate items, even deliver  to the room or give you some relief.  Communication and opening up to others can be very beneficial.

CLEAN WATER - Yes, find filtered water for the patient. Sometimes the Hospital will have filters on their water system, it is important to ask. Most likely, you will want to buy a counter top filter system and have in the room for the patient to drink from. Find a filtration system that removes LEAD and other Chemicals.

MUSIC - Music is very calming, it helps people escape, dream, sleep.  There are many apps that you can download on a cell phone to help the patient sleep.

Walking - WARNING - THIS MUST BE CLEARED WITH THE DOCTOR

Try this when approved,  for every hour you are in a hospital bed you should have a 10 minute walk.  The benefits of walking are greater than I can explain here. The BIG one is - CIRCULATION - walking improves circulation, reduces blood clots, brings up the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, helps prevent heart disease, strengthens muscles, improves sleep and so much more. Just do it!