Senior Snippets

SENIOR SNIPPETS - COPING AS A CARER FOR A LOVED ONE

By Christina Uppenkamp - Home Instead

Welcome to the latest edition of Senior Snippets: the monthly advisory column with the older members of our community in mind, brought to you by Christina Uppenkamp of Home Instead Dartford.

In this instalment, we will share some essential tips for those of you caring for a loved one. Being a family carer can be one of the most fulfilling things that you can do, but on the flip side, it can also be an overwhelming and thankless task. Anyone that cares for somebody is likely to have many unanswered questions regarding both the care they are giving to their loved one and the care they owe themselves. To help answer some of those questions, we have compiled some top tips to help you become the best carer you can be:

1. Take a guilt-free break – Allowing yourself some alone time to unwind a few times each month will help you to reenergise and provide a much better quality of care.

2. Be patient – It can often take time to get into a consistent care routine. Keeping calm and patient will allow this to happen whilst also respecting your loved one’s dignity and independence.

3. Help them to feel good – A new haircut or item of clothing can do wonders for your loved one’s confidence and self-worth, so don’t forget to treat them every now and then!

4. Accept that they have changed – The person you care for is unlikely to be the person you knew them to be. Accepting this change will help you to stay in the here and now and give the best care possible.

5. Accept help – In order to properly take care of someone else, you need to also be able to take care of yourself. When people offer to help you, it’s ok to accept it.

We provide support to many families and couples to ensure the main carer has time off to ‘recharge’. If you’d like to discuss how we might help, please do get in touch.

If you have any ideas for a future topic, please write to c.uppenkamp@dartford. homeinstead.co.uk - we’d love to hear from you !