As a caregiver, you’ve felt the weight of having too many things on your plate, balancing too many responsibilities, and putting others before yourself. While you can live like this for a short while, if it’s a continual state, overextending yourself and your caregiving can have negative health consequences for you. This year, even though January 1 is long gone, make it a priority to ask for help so that you can take the time needed for some self-care. By making this resolution for yourself, you will also help your loved one by presenting a better, healthier you when you provide the caregiving they need. Respite care services can provide you with assistance to lighten your load.

How to Ask for Help

If you’re not good at asking for help or feel that your requests often get ignored, try these tips the next time you need to ask for help.

Respite Care Bakersfield, CA – It’s Not Too Late to Make A New Year’s Resolution for Better Self-Care

Think about what the person is good at, and ask them to help with that. If you have a loved one who is a great cook, ask if she’ll help with meals for your elderly loved one. Or, if she has a large family, ask if she’ll make bigger servings of their meals so a serving or two can be given to your loved one.

Ask for small things at first. Instead of asking a loved one to take over the responsibility of laundry all of the time, ask him if he can help once and then let him see how much it is appreciated. He may offer to do it again himself.

Ask in person. While it can feel easier to send a text or write an email, a phone call or in-person call makes it more difficult for the person to ignore your request.

Have a list of items your loved one needs help with so that when someone does ask you what they can do to help, you have several options ready at your fingertips.

Professional Respite Care Can Help

If you find yourself in a situation where there aren’t a lot of family or friends that you can ask for help with caring for your elderly loved one, consider reaching out to someone who provides professional respite care.

The benefits of having someone come to your home and provide respite care are plentiful.

You’ll have someone who is trained in many aspects of caring for your loved one and will provide safe care for your loved one, so you can unplug for a bit.

They’re dependable. Friends and family may mean well, but often things come up that may make them back out at the last minute, throwing your plans for a loop and making you scramble.

You don’t need to worry about any past family drama or bad habits being brought to your loved one.

They understand what you are going through and offer judgment-free assistance to you and your loved one.

You might find the best option for you is to have a little of both. Talk to those family members and friends about helping out occasionally, but also schedule some professional respite care as well. The more you can take care of yourself, the better you’ll do at taking care of your loved one.

If you or an aging loved one is considering Respite Care Services in Bakersfield, CA, please get in touch with the caring staff at Everlight Home Care today. Call us at 559-353-2847.

Private Duty Home Care in Fresno, Madera, Kern Counties, and surrounding communities. Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Gina Kendall

Gina Kendall has over 25 years of work experience serving the aging and the disabled. Her extensive experience in care and management began as a Social Services Coordinator in skilled nursing facilities. While working in this capacity, she became aware of the need for, and the importance of, good, quality, home care. Gina worked with families to keep their loved ones home and avoid a return visit to the hospital. As she continued her career of service, she began working with the disabled population helping to expand and improve their independence throughout all aspects of life.

This combination of experiences has afforded Gina a unique view of the needs of the aging and the disabled and how to best serve those needs in a home setting.

Gina’s Central Valley roots run deep. She earned her BA degree from Fresno State in 1993 and has lived and worked in Fresno for the past 20 years. In addition to raising her family in Fresno, she is actively involved in her local church and is a volunteer for various local community organizations.

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