How to Support Caregivers
Caregivers are those who assist others in need of help with daily activities and/or medical tasks. While there are caregivers that exist in a formal capacity, the majority of them are family caregivers or informal caregivers – those who are unpaid and formally untrained to provide care for an individual.
For most informal caregivers, depending on the condition of the care recipient, caregiving can be a full-time job. Many things that are daunting to even trained nurses may end up being routine care of persons with chronic illnesses living at home. As a result, caregivers often end up neglecting their own health and well-being in order to care for the care recipient.
For this reason, it is important for the people around the caregiver to keep a vigilant eye on them for any signs of strain and distress, and to willingly offer them support in any way they can.
Here are a few ways on how you can support the caregivers in your life:
Pick up tasks that get pushed to the side
Caregivers tend to prioritise the needs of their care recipient above anything else, which also means that less important duties tend to get neglected or end up piling up. Things like doing the laundry, cleaning the house, or even picking up groceries tend to get pushed to the back of their minds as they are preoccupied with their caregiving responsibilities.
If you’re on your way to the dry cleaners, consider picking up their laundry too. Or ask the caregiver in your life for their shopping list while you’re on a grocery run. Try to lighten the number of tasks that they have to carry as much as you can.
Urge them to take better care of themselves
Many caregivers might feel guilty for taking a break from their caregiving duties and feel like they’re slacking off. But that way of thinking is counterproductive. Caregiver burden is real and can take a severe toll on a caregiver’s mental health if left unchecked.
Try to note any changes in their behaviour. If it seems like they’re reaching their breaking point, it is important for you to step in before it can happen, as the caregiver themselves might not notice their burnout symptoms.
Suggest respite care services or take up the job of caregiving yourself if only for a few hours, just to give the caregiver in your life the opportunity to have some time for themselves and to re-energise.
Show them you care
Caregiving can get discouraging after long periods of time when it seems like the care recipient is not showing any signs of getting better or is in declining health.
Show the caregiver in your life that you appreciate all that they’re doing and assure them that their hard work has not gone unnoticed. Schedule a quick call with them to catch up and check-in, shoot them a text or even send them an impromptu gift. No matter how small, gestures of love are always meaningful and will go a long way.
Encourage them to seek additional support
Caregiving can get overwhelming, especially for those who have limited experience with it. If it seems like the caregiver in your life is struggling, try to suggest sources that they can refer to for needed help. Refer them to caregiver education and support programs run by local organisations and support groups, or suggest healthcare professionals who can give them helpful advice.
If they’re burdened emotionally and psychologically, consider referring the caregiver in your life to a therapist. While having friends and family around does help, it’s different from receiving counsel from a professional third-party who can help them assess not only their own well-being, but also help them navigate caregiving better.
Since caregivers are so used to prioritising the needs of their care recipient over their own, they may fail to recognise the physical and psychological signs of caregiver burden taking its toll on them. For this reason, having people they can lean on for support is paramount.
