Caregivers: The keys to guarding your physical and emotional wellbeing

More than 37 million Americans care for older family members, with 61% of those caregivers also working outside the home. Caregiving and balancing your other responsibilities can be both rewarding and challenging. As anyone who’s ever been a caregiver knows, caring for an older loved one can affect both your physical and emotional wellbeing. One report, published by the CDC in 2020, found that nearly 20% of the caregivers surveyed said their own health was fair or poor, although the report didn’t specify the causes for these health issues.

The stress of caregiving can impact both your physical and mental wellbeing, increasing the risk of developing a wide range of health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, more frequent infections due to a suppressed immune system, back and joint problems, depression, and anxiety. But by taking a number of proactive steps, you can reduce the risk of caregiving having a negative impact on your health.

Know the signs of caregiver stress and burnout

When you’re in the thick of the caregiving experience, it can be easy to overlook the signs that you are more stressed than usual. Those signs can include:

• Feeling tired most of the time
• Insomnia or sleeping significantly more than you usually do
• Feeling anxious or having panic attacks when you previously did not experience these issues
• Frequent headaches or aches and pains you didn’t used to have
• Catching colds and other contagious illnesses more frequently
• Losing interest in activities you enjoy
• Gaining or losing a noticeable amount of weight without trying to
• A shorter temper or lower frustration level than usual
• Problems concentrating
• Skipping personal care tasks like showers frequently
• Skipping meals or eating less healthy foods like fast food because you’re pressed for time
• Not exercising or being physically active when you used to take part in physical activity regularly
• Feeling lonely or disconnected from family and friends
• Misusing alcohol or substances to manage stress
• Missing your own medical appointments, skipping preventive care, or not filling prescriptions/remembering to take medications for chronic conditions

Strategies to protect your health and wellbeing

If the stress of caregiving is causing you to experience any of the signs listed above, these strategies can help you manage stress and stay healthier while you care for your loved ones:

• Reach out to others for help. Ask family and friends to run errands, cook meals, go grocery shopping, or stay with your loved one so you can have some time to yourself. Another way friends and family can provide support is making time to listen to your concerns and provide other viewpoints and ideas if you want them.
• Take care of your own health. Stay up to date on medical and dental check-ups, as well as screenings like mammograms or colonoscopies. If you have a chronic condition like diabetes, heart disease, or respiratory disease, make sure you take your medications as prescribed and see your doctor as recommended.
• Choose healthy habits. Make fitting exercise into your week a priority. Exercise not only helps diffuse stress it also helps you build strength and endurance and keep your heart, muscles, and joints healthier. Taking part in 30 minutes of physical activity a day helps and you can break it up into three 10-minute segments and still reap the same health benefits. Healthy eating also boosts your wellbeing. Choose a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins and fats, and fiber to boost your immune system, increase your energy, and prevent the health problems that frequent fast food meals can cause like weight gain and higher cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Try to get about eight hours of sleep a night. If you’re having trouble sleeping, talk with your doctor and try relaxation techniques like meditation or breathing exercises.
• Stay connected with your social support system. Stay in touch with friends and family by getting together for a short walk or talking on the phone regularly. These connections provide important emotional support and lower the risk of depression and anxiety. You could also join a caregiver support group in your community.
• Try mind-body approaches to stress management. Practices like yoga, tai chi, breathwork, and meditation can help you manage stress and can be done at home so you can fit sessions in without the need to travel to a class.
• Address your mental wellbeing. If you experience signs of depression, anxiety, or substance use disorder, connect with a mental health provider. Your Health Advisor can help you find and connect with providers who have experience working with caregivers.
• Consider respite care. There are a number of different types of temporary care support, also called respite care, available. Home health aides and adult day care center programs can provide you with a brief break from caregiving so you can attend to your own wellbeing.

Working with PinnacleCare

PinnacleCare Health Advisors provide a great deal of support not only to our members, but also to their caregivers. With our expert navigation and guidance, caregivers have someone they can trust and rely on to provide information and access to the most qualified care providers. Allowing you to more confidently make decisions with your loved ones about their health.

Connect with a PinnacleCare Relationship Manager today to see how we can support your health needs.