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CONTACT
US:
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Care Giver
Orange County.com
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CareWorks Health Services
23151
Moulton Parkway STE 103C
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Phone:
(949) 859-4772

Hours
of Business: 24/7 Service




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EMAIL:
Begin@CAREGIVERORANGECOUNTY.COM
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We
provide Medical/Non-Medical Home Health Care Helping
Seniors and Disabled Adults live independently and safely,
in the place they want most, Home
24/7. Our caregivers believe in and adopt our
“Caregivers
Ten Commandments”, the cornerstone of success
for all our “Compassionate Companions”.
We
provide the most compassionate care to all individuals
- begining with newborns, hospital outpatient care to
seniors. With our dedicated and committed professionals,
our experienced team of caregivers are supported by our
diligent Support Staff making them the best in the industry.
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Caring for Aged Parents? Beware Caregiver’s Stress
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Caring
for Aged Parents? Beware Caregiver’s Stress
Author:
Eileen Silva
If so, you
are part of one fourth of American families who are caring for
an older family member, an adult child with disabilities, or a
friend. According to the AARP, you are one of more than 22.4 million
Americans who are now caregivers to older adults, a number that
has tripled in the last 10 years alone. The average amount of
time these Americans spend on caregiving is about 20 hours per
week with many of these hours spent in physically demanding work.
With the life spans raising over the past century from 49 -77,
some children are actually caring for invalid parents 20 years,
longer than the parents spent raising them.
I would like to ask you a question? How is your own personal health?
One third of caregivers describe their personal health as fair
to poor, and many worry that they won’t outlive the person for
whom they are caring. As you and other caregivers struggle to
balance caregiving with other responsibilities, including full-time
jobs and caring for children, constant stress can lead to 'burnout'
and health problems. You may feel guilty, frustrated, and angry
from time to time, suffer from depression, and become ill easily
yourself. Caring for even the most beloved parents can seem like
a burden when your own health collapses from endless hours of
caring for their needs.
For example, caring for a parent with Alzheimer\'s disease (AD)
or other kinds of dementia at home can be overwhelming. The caregiver
must cope with declining abilities and difficult behaviors that
affect even basic activities of daily living and often become
hard to manage for both the care receiver and the caregiver. As
the disease worsens, the care receiver usually needs 24-hour care.
In addition to the constant care required, caregivers of parents
with this type of problem also suffer from the emotional pain
of losing communication with parents who no longer recognize them.
To sustain this, and other types of prolonged stress and care,
you need to call upon other family members, friends, and neighbors
for help. If other caregivers aren\'t available to fill in, respite
care services may be available in the community to help you. Respite
care can be a good way for you to get a break (respite) from constant
caregiving.
Some caregivers are still raising their own children and feel
torn between the needs of their children and the needs of their
parents. In fact, in this day of small families, many Americans
may have more parents than children. They also feel torn between
their own needs for work, vacations, privacy, hobbies, or friends
and feelings of guilt, resentment, or even depression or martyrdom.
Both aging parents and caregiver children lose independence and
privacy. Even the most congenial relationships can suffer from
these loses.
Here are some recommendations to help you take care of your own
health:
• Eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water. Avoid sugars,
fats, and salt. Include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Follow the guidelines of the government’s food pyramid for proper
amounts and food types to include in your daily menu. Take a good
multivitamin for extra protection.
• Get plenty of rest and sleep, even if you have to enlist help
to care for your parents while you rest. Spend some time unwinding
and relaxing during the day as well.
• Get regular, healthy exercise at least three days a week. Regular
exercise not only reduces stress and improves health, but also
produces endorphins, which add to a good feeling mood.
• Keep your own health care up to date, including yearly checkups.
If you experience negative feelings, get counseling from doctor
or therapist, or share your feelings with good friends.
• Speaking of friends, keep your social life active in order to
stay connected with your community and to give an outlet for stress.
Seek comfort and support in your faith-based group as well.
• Remember you are not alone. Seek support groups for caregivers,
especially if you are caring for a loved one with a disease. Look
online for government or state supported groups and help departments.
Find community support groups.
• Make arrangements for your own vacations and retreats, for regrouping
and refreshing yourself, your spouse, and your own children. Remember,
you are not the only one affected by your live-in parent situation.
Your entire family experiences changes and stresses along with
you. Arrange for someone to stay with your parent and spend some
time as a family away from home and those extra responsibilities.
• Remind yourself of the care that your parent lavished on you
as a child and how you felt about that parent then. Often, we
get so busy that we forget how much we really love our parents,
especially in the throes of caring for them. Try to revisit happier
days with them and remind both them and yourself of those times.
Bring out family pictures and relive happy days together.
If you are a caregiver, remember to care for your own health as
well as that of your loved one. Seek comfort, help, time to refresh
yourself, and regular exercise to ensure that you will remain
able to give that care and still maintain your personal wellness.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/caring-for-aged-parents-beware-caregivers-stress-230091.html
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the Author
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