1. Identify specific stressors

While it’s easy to lump stress altogether, identifying where your stress is coming from is necessary. Here are a few factors family caregivers often say are causing them anxiety and stress:

Worrying that the senior’s needs aren’t being met

Feeling concerned about neglecting a spouse, partner, or children

Lacking enough time to get things done

Missing work due to caregiving duties

Needing more time for self-care

Once you’ve identified where you are struggling, it’s easier to find solutions. For example, call your church or synagogue to see if they have a volunteer visitor program for homebound seniors. This assistance would allow your loved one to have a regular visitor, and you to take a break.

2. Accept that no one can do it all

One mistake caregivers routinely make is thinking they can and must do everything alone. In most situations, that just isn’t realistic. Before the holidays are in full swing this year, set a goal to be more pragmatic. Here are a few ideas to consider for your holiday goal setting:

Simplify holiday celebrations: It really is okay to simplify holiday traditions while you are busy caregiving. Instead of cooking a formal, sit-down dinner for family and friends, ask everyone to bring a dish or find a restaurant you can all meet at for a meal. Remind yourself that it doesn’t have to be forever, just until life is a little calmer.

Responding to invitations: Most people have a difficult time saying no. Set your feelings of guilt aside and don’t feel obligated to attend every holiday event you are invited to. On the flip side, don’t feel guilty if you want to go to a party and have someone else stay with your loved one. A night out to laugh and enjoy yourself will likely make you a better caregiver.

3. Your health matters, too

The hectic pace of the holidays combined with the demands of caregiving, can lead many to take shortcuts with their diet and to skip exercising. Neither is a good idea.

If you need to rely on fast food or take out during the holiday rush, review the menus (and nutritional content!) at your favorite restaurants and opt for those that are the healthiest. This information on healthy foods at big chain restaurants will help.

4. Explore senior care options

Caregiving is a lot of work any time of year. Before the height of the holiday season, explore your local senior care options. Adult day centers and home care are two possibilities. Respite care and assisted living are others. You can take advantage of these services on a short-term or permanent basis.

Sometimes, during the holiday season, caregivers begin to realize that a senior loved one needs more assistance than can be provided at home. If this situation sounds familiar, we’d like to help.

We’re talking about how to not let diabetes dim your dazzle during the holiday season with our panel of experts on Divabetic’s popular Diabetes Late Nite podcast inspired by Elvis Presley.

Guests include Chilbrook Kennels Breeder Author, Diabetes Alert Dog and Scent Detection Expert, Debby Kay, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDE, CDN, Mandy Reece PHARMD, CDE, BC-ADM, FAADE, Rachel Zinman,  the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach featuring Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE and America’s #1 Energy Conductor, High Voltage. 

Throughout the podcast we will be featuring songs from the new “Christmas with Elvis and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” album courtesy of SONY Music.

The album brings together Elvis Presley’s best-loved yuletide performances from “Elvis’ Christmas Album” (1957) and “Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas” (1971) re-imagined with sublime and exquisite new arrangements performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.