You can’t fully care for someone else if you don’t first put enough energy into caring for yourself. Learn our tips for caregivers to stay at their best while serving in an important and challenging role.

How to Support Yourself as a Caregiver


Caregivers and support systems for stroke survivors come in many forms. You may
be an immediate family member, second cousin, best friend, acquaintance, fellow
church member, neighbor, or even a hired aide. No matter where or how your
relationship started, you are here now and you deserve support, tips, and
gratitude!

The best ways to support yourself as a caregiver:
 * Engage in self-care
 * Avoid caregiver burnout: share responsibility, take breaks, use respite
   services
 * Prioritize your own safety as well as safety of the care recipient
 * Use therapist tips to streamline caregiving
 * Collaborate with the care recipient to prioritize your assistance
   

Practice Self-Care
First and foremost, put on your own oxygen mask first. Try to remember that you
can’t truly take care of or support someone else if you don’t first put enough
energy into caring for yourself. Self-care means something different to each
person, but try to consider things like getting enough rest, taking breaks, and
even finding caregiver support groups [https://www.caregiver.org/support-groups] 
so that you can chat and vent about the similar challenges you all encounter.
The more you can plan ahead to protect yourself emotionally and physically, the
better you are in the long run.

Avoid Caregiver Burnout
In the case of a person requiring round the clock supervision or many hours of
care, make sure to check into caregiver respite programs
[https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/caregivers/nfcsp_respite_care] that allow
you the peace of mind to take breaks while the stroke survivor is being safely
cared for. If the patient has several people on the support team, consider
taking turns with these other folks rather than working simultaneously, so that
you have time off. Caregiver burnout is a real thing, even if the support you
are providing is mostly supervisory or emotional - try to find ways to avoid
burnout if you can.

Prioritize Safety
A stroke can affect balance, muscle strength, protective reactions, problem
solving, judgment, and memory, reducing safety of daily task performance.
Caregivers and members of the support system are often called upon to help
manage safety concerns for care recipients by supervising transfers and other
mobility tasks, providing steadying balance or physical assistance, or
overseeing activities. Using good body mechanics, good preparation and setup
for
lifting or transfers
[http://eldercareanswers.com/safe-lifting-techniques-family-caregivers/], and
planning ahead for how to approach a physical task not only helps the care
recipient, but protects the caregiver from injuries as well

Use Therapist Tips
If you participated in caregiver training before discharge from the hospital,
try to incorporate ideas the therapy team came up with to safely help the stroke
survivor. Examples include: using assistive devices
[https://www.caregiver.org/assistive-technology], bending down and getting close
to the person before a transfer, counting 1-2-3 to initiate moving, modifying
foods to be a safe consistency for swallowing, or removing distractions from the
environment before a task is performed. It is encouraged to ask questions and
take notes during training so that you can more easily transfer these concepts
to use at home. Most therapists welcome use of notebooks, or even pictures, to
help you remember all of the information before discharge!

Collaborate on Caregiving Goals
It may be beneficial to sit down with the stroke survivor in the beginning, and
collaborate on a list of things that person truly needs help or support with.
That way, you can prioritize what you need to dedicate your energy toward and
what you can let go of, and the patient can maintain a sense of self-efficacy.
If the person needs you to double-check that they organized a pill box correctly
and paid bills on time, but does not need help getting socks and shoes on, don’t
worry about those socks and shoes. It is very important for the patient to
maintain autonomy and independence (safely), which can be taken as a positive
for the caregiver who does not have to “do it all.”

Ultimately, there may be many ups and downs in your journey as a caregiver. Give
yourself as much grace as you can, and know that you are learning new skills
alongside the stroke survivor. Being a part of the stroke recovery journey as a
support person is vital - you are important, even on days when you may not feel
it. If you are doing the best you can to support the person’s own goals for
recovery while also protecting your own needs, you are doing something right.

Caregiver Tips

Caregiver Support: Support for the Caregiver

Having support does not mean compromising your independence. Learn about the different types of support and the benefits of having a strong support system.

The Stroke Journey: Maximizing Your Support System

Support for stroke survivors is essential for recovery; however, the word
“support” can mean many different things. It is a good idea for you to know the
different types of support and determine how you best receive and respond to
support, so that others know how they can best help you. 

What are the different kinds of support?
Instrumental support is the kind of tangible support you receive when someone
physically provides for you or assists you with something. An example of this is
your best friend coming over to wash your dishes, take your trash to the curb,
or bring you a meal. 

Emotional support speaks more to having loved ones lift you up with their
presence or words to help you with the mental and psychological burden you may
be feeling during your recovery. An example of this is your brother sitting by
your side and telling you he is there for you while you vent about your
frustrations.

Some things to consider to maximize your support network:
 * What things do you need physical help with after your stroke? Examples may be
   related to activities of daily living, such as cutting up your food, helping
   you get in and out of the shower, or providing steadying assistance while you
   transfer from your wheelchair to the bed. Other examples may be related to
   household tasks such as pet care, grocery shopping, or house cleaning.
 * What things do you need check-ins or supervision for after your stroke? 
   Examples include monitoring for medication management after you have
   organized your medicine in a pillbox, checking to make sure there are no
   errors in bill payment, or looking over your weekly schedule to make sure all
   of your appointments are organized.
 * What type of support do you tend to lean toward when you face general life
   challenges? You may find that you prefer tangible, physical help with getting
   things accomplished, or someone to help you tackle a problem by providing you
   problem-solving options. Or, you may prefer someone to stand by your side and
   offer validation for how you are feeling and coping.
 * What plans do you have for emergencies, and how can family or friends support
   you? Think about who you would feel the most comfortable calling should a
   natural disaster take place, should you need to go to the hospital, or even
   should a less-routine event happen such as a big snow storm or a power
   outage. Consider making a list of phone numbers and ways that particular
   people could be helpful, such as driving you where you need to go or bringing
   over water and bread.
 * What specific goals do you have for yourself in order to maintain your
   independence? Caregivers are often just that - caring! They may try to do too
   much or assist with things that you can do independently. It is very useful
   to know ahead of time how they can best lend a hand with what you truly need,
   while allowing you to maintain your self-efficacy with the things you know
   you can handle. Having a clear expectation from the beginning may prevent
   hard feelings down the road.
 * What type of feedback or encouragement do you prefer? Again, often caregivers
   may feel uncertain of how to best support you and would likely do a better
   job if they knew exactly what helps you the most. You may feel that you
   benefit from frequent verbal encouragement for even seemingly small
   accomplishments. Or, you may get annoyed when people acknowledge minor things
   and it may be better if they wait for a bigger milestone before speaking up.
   You may want to be held accountable to stick to your plan of how to make
   progress with a certain task, or this may feel too stressful. Everyone
   benefits from having more clear-cut instructions for what suits you the most!

Remember, this is your journey. Taking the time to evaluate your own personal
needs and lay out how a support person or group of people could best help you
may be a bit of work on the front end, but will likely benefit you and your
friends and family in the long run.

stroke support

Seventy percent of American adults report taking at least one medication. Consider the following tips to streamline your medication management process.

Making Medication Management Easier

Managing medication is a part of most Americans' daily routine. Seventy percent
of adults report regularly taking one medication, over fifty percent take two,
and twenty percent of individuals take five or more medications at once
[www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130619132352.htm]. Although many use a
system to ensure they take their prescriptions as scheduled, health events and
hospitalizations can result in medication and dosage changes that disrupt one's
regular routine.

Streamline your medication management process with the following solutions:
 1. Written reminders
 2. Pill container organizers
 3. Pill bottle timers
 4. Medication management apps
 5. Medication sorting services

Written Reminders
Pick a location in your house that you pass by often. Use sticky notes, a white
board, a calendar, or other means to place highly-visible reminders to take your
medication. You can set digital reminders on your smartphone or computer as a
recurring alarm or calendar event to help stay on track.



Pill Container Organizers
Especially important for those managing multiple medications, a pill organizer
allows you to sort all of your prescriptions for the week in a clearly-labeled
container. Multi-level organizers
[https://www.amazon.com/GMS-Organizer-Removable-Supplements-Medication/dp/B07NX1YCD9/ref=sr_1_13?crid=IT53YR1VGIHI&keywords=morning+noon+night+pill+organizer&qid=1578784527&sprefix=morning+noon+night+pill+%2Chpc%2C187&sr=8-13] 
include days of the week and times of the day for prescriptions taken on an
hourly basis. Devoting one day to filling your organizer for the week will save
you time and mental energy.



Pill Bottle Timers
Pill timers [https://www.epill.com/timecap.html] allow users to set alarms for
when medication is due, sounding a notification right from the pill bottle
itself [https://www.gadgetking.com/2016/01/26/rx-timer-cap/]. These timers also
track when the bottle was last opened, so users can calculate when their next
dose is due.

Medication Management Apps
Take digital reminders one step further and download a medication management and
tracking app to your smartphone. Choices including Medisafe
[https://www.medisafeapp.com/], Dosecast [http://www.montunosoftware.com/], and 
MedHelper [http://medhelperapp.com/] are available for both Android and Apple
products, allowing you to add prescriptions by name and set personalized alerts
for when medications are due.

Medication Sorting Services
Using a service that pre-sorts your prescriptions into daily dose pouches or
blister packs can be especially valuable for indivdiuals with complex drug
regimens. Many retail pharmacies including CVS
[https://www.cvs.com/content/multidose] can package your medications in this
manner at your request. Otherwise, consider an independent pharmacy like 
PillPack [https://www.pillpack.com/how-it-works], which offers medication
sorting and delivery to customers nationwide after insurance qualification.



Why is medication management important?
It is imperative to manage medications correctly, as errors in taking
prescriptions can be life-threatening. Ask others for help as needed or discuss
solutions with your doctor if taking your prescriptions at the right times seems
difficult. Ultimately, adopting a personal medication management system is a
short-term investment with long-term health benefits.