Taking care of an older adult full-time is not easy. No matter how much you love the person, the day-to-day challenges of elder care can take their toll on your physical and emotional well-being.
That’s why it is so important to take periodic breaks, during which you can entrust your loved one to an expert in-home respite care service.
4 Benefits of Respite Care for Caregivers
The benefits of respite care for elders are well known: getting to know new people, checkups by a trained and experienced healthcare worker, and a bit of fun and variety, to name a few. Equally important, however, are the benefits of respite care for the caregivers themselves. Some of the advantages that are most frequently mentioned by our clients are listed below:
Keeping perspective
With any obligation, there is a certain sense of burnout and drudgery that can develop when it becomes day in, day out, without a break or an end in sight. This is doubly true when dealing with someone who is experiencing physical or mental deterioration.
In some cases, caregivers may even begin to feel resentment toward their loved ones. Taking a break from time to time is a way to take a step back and remember why you are doing this: because you love and care for the elderly person in your life, and because they can no longer perform the functions of day-to-day life by themselves.
Mental and physical relaxation
The physical demands of caring for the elderly can really add up. It is not uncommon for caregivers to report strain and soreness in the joints, lower back, and shoulders. Even more challenging can be the psychological strain of the constant anxiety that goes along with being responsible for someone in a state of ill health.
Constant ups and downs in your loved one’s health and mental lucidity certainly take a substantial mental toll on caregivers as well. As the saying goes, you cannot pour from an empty cup, and it is vitally important that you allow yourself time to heal when you are beginning to feel the mental and physical effects of your responsibilities.
Keeping a healthy social life
Part of living a healthy, balanced life is having positive interactions with other people. You must not allow your elder care duties to absorb all of your time and energy. Schedule regular visits or outings with friends and relatives, and do so without any sense of guilt.
Don’t let your personal relationships fall by the wayside, when a support network of family and friends is just what you need when difficulties and challenges arise. Countless studies show that having close friendships comes with a whole host of positive effects on physical and mental health and overall well-being.
Having a vacation
Whether you take a day trip to a nearby national park or spend several nights in a luxurious resort, taking the opportunity to get away can be extremely restorative and refreshing. A vacation can even be spending a couple of days at home in your pajamas, reading books and drinking herbal tea!
Whatever your preference is, alone or with a partner or friends, vacations are a much-needed change of routine and a change of perspective from the ordinary day-to-day cycles that make up so much of our lives. Novel experiences create memories that lengthen our perception of time, and without these occasional shake-ups of our routines, our days can too easily blend into each other as a string of repetitive events.
For expert and compassionate respite care in Lafayette, LA, look no further than Home Instead. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation Care Consultation to discuss with a senior care professional what we can do to help to ease your burden and allow you to make essential time for yourself.
Learn more about our process here.
Sources:
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/elderly-respite-care-benefits.html
