Understanding Yourself as a Caregiver

Transcription

1 Handouts are intended for personal use only.any copyrighted materials or DVD content from Positive Approach, LLC (Teepa Snow) may be used for personal educational purposes only. This material may not be copied, sold or commercially exploited, and shall be used solely by the requesting individual. Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved Teepa Snow and Positive Approach to Care Any redistribution or duplication, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited, without the expressed written consent of Teepa Snow and Positive Approach, LLC Understanding Yourself as a Caregiver 1

2 Why do you need to manage caregiver stress? - Dementia caregiving is very HARD WORK! - Long term exposure to stress affects your physical and mental health - Over 40% of the time we will lose a caregiver before we lose the person with dementia - Your emotional state affects the person you are caring for - You are as important as the person with dementia Step #1: Become Aware of Yourself -How are you doing? Right now! -On a scale of 1-10 how stressed are you? -If you aren t sure, stop and think about it -If you say LOW, are you telling the truth or just what comes out automatically? -If you say HIGH, what are you doing about it? -HOW DO YOU KNOW how stressed you are? -What do other people say about you? Let s Verify: - Physiologically - Physically - Intellectually - Emotionally - Socially - Spiritually 2

3 Physiological Stress Indicators: - Heart Rate - Respiratory Rate - Blood Pressure - Blood Sugars - Bad Cholesterol Levels - PAIN Physical Stress Indicators: - Constant fatigue or sleeplessness - Tight muscles overall tenseness - Joint pain - Clenched jaw - Shaking, jerking, hyperactive reflexes - Startle easily - Eye discomfort or strain Intellectual Stress Indicators: - Can t concentrate - Can t think of more than one thing at a time - Getting stuck and thinking over and over - Can t remember worse than usual - Can t let it go - Sticky notes are everywhere - Having more accidents than usual 3

4 Emotional Stress Level: Where are you NOW? Social Stress Indicators: - Not getting out - Not talking or interacting when you are out - Getting angry at others - Getting sad - Wanting to go home as soon as you get out - Ignoring people you usually love to be with - Limiting contacts - Ignoring attempts to connect - Angry with God Spiritual Stress: - Bargaining with God - Denying that there is a God, despite a lifelong belief - Not being at peace or satisfied at any time - Not caring one way or the other - Not seeing any blessings - Not feeling connected to anyone or anything 4

5 Step #2: Think and Remember: - When have you been really miserable? -What were you doing? -Where were you? -Was anyone with you? -What made it awful? -How did you get over it? -What made it better? Step #3: Think and Remember: - When was the last time you felt really good? -What were you doing? -Where were you? -Were you with someone? Who? -What made it great? -How did you feel? - What helps you reduce your stress? - Are you doing these things regularly? How You Feel is Real and Important! - However you feel is OK, its how you feel! - It s not about judgment, its about support! - Acknowledge the feelings, then decide what to do about it - Is it what you want to feel? - IF YES, go with it - If NO, work to change it! 5

6 If You are Having a Hard Time: Think about: -What HELPS YOU -What you NEED -What is MISSING -What you are struggling with -Who else might help -What will happen if you don t do something -What might happen if you do Some Ideas for Changing: - Pick one thing - Plan on baby steps - Get support for you - Build a routine - Check in on your feelings - Add something before giving something up - Believe it: not everyone is meant to do hands-on care - Give it a try not permanent just try How to Get Started: - Be honest about what is going on right now - Get someone to help you look at it - Talk about what is including: -The GOOD -The BAD -The UGLY! 6

7 Things That Will Help: - Build activities - Get active - Socialize - De-stress - Get enough sleep - Get sleep apnea and depression treated - Control blood pressure and diabetes - Take meds CAREFULLY Some Specifics: - Help to make new friends and form partnerships - Help keep the old friends and familiar contacts - Explore and create volunteer opportunities - Use old skills and routines in new ways - Give it a try and offer more than once - Start low, go slow, build a little at a time - Consider a support group for talking about changes - Get away from your partner(s) occasionally - Build an entire day, 24/7 A Few More Ideas: - Set aside a few minutes use a timer! - Breathe - Smile, laugh, look for some funnies! - Remember a good time - What do you get out of the relationship - Use at least one of the STRESS TAMERS 7

8 Teepa s 10 Minute Stress Tamers: - Sit quietly in calm surroundings with soft lights and pleasant scents - Aromatherapy: lavender, citrus, vanilla, cinnamon, peppermint, fresh cut grass - Breathe deeply: rest your mind and oxygenate - Soak: in a warm bath, or just your hands or feet - Read: spiritual readings, poetry, inspirational readings, or one chapter of a book you like - Laugh and smile: watch classic comedians, Candid Camera, America s Funniest Home Videos, look at kid or animal photos - Stretch: front to back, side to side, and across Teepa s 10 Minute Stress Tamers: - Beanbag heat therapy: fill a sock with dry beans and sew or tie closed, heat in a microwave for 30 seconds at a time, place on tight muscles and massage gently; relax for ten minutes - Remember the good times: record oral memories, scrapbooks, photo journals, keepsake memory picture frames, or just jot - Do a little on a favorite hobby - Have a cup of decaffeinated tea or coffee - Play a brain game: crosswords, jigsaws, jeopardy, jumbles - Look through a hymnal and find a favorite and hum it all the way through Teepa s 10 Minute Stress Tamers: - Books on Tape: rest your eyes and read - Soothing sounds: music you love, music especially for stress relief, recorded sounds of nature - Listen to coached relaxation recordings - Pamper yourself : think of what you LOVE and give yourself permission to do it for 10 minutes - Neck rubs or back rubs: use the just right pressure - Hand Massages: with lotion or without - Take a walk - Sit in the sun 8

9 Teepa s 10 Minute Stress Tamers: - Garden: work with plants - Rock on the porch - Pray or read a passage from scripture - Journal: take the opportunity to tell it like it is - Cuddle and stroke a pet - Have that cup of coffee or tea with a special friend who listens well - Pay attention to your personality: -If you rejuvenate being alone, then seek solitude -If you rejuvenate by being with others, seek company BREATHE!!! Take a deep breath in BLOW it all the way out Take another breath in BLOW it out Take one final breath in and SING IT OUT Feel what happened to you. Look at what happened to people around you. Think about how and when you might do this. Reach Out to Someone Else: - Hold someone s hand - Give someone a hand rub - Say yes to a hand rub or shoulder rub from someone else - Breathe while they do the work SWITCH - Play this game with another twosome 9

10 Support Groups For: - People with dementia - Caregivers - Family members - Those recovering from the loss of the person they have cared for Playmate Hey, hey, hey playmate Come out and play with me And bring your dollies three Climb up my apple tree Call down my rain barrel Slide down my cellar door And we ll be jolly friends forever more. Laugh Out Loud: - Look for funny - Listen for funny - Feel the funny 10

11 History According to Kids: - Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate Of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere. - Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. He was an actual hysterical figure as well as being in the bible. It sounds like he was sort of busy too. - Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died from an overdose of wedlock which is apparently poisonous. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline. - In the first Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits, and threw the java. The games were messier then than they show on TV now. - Madman Curie discovered radio. She was the first woman to do what she did. Other women have become scientists since her but they didn't get to find radios because they were already taken. - The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter. - Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbits but I don't know why. - Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw for reasons I don't really understand. The English and French still have problems. 11

12 - Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper which was very dangerous to all his men. - Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large. How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb? Golden Retriever: The sun is shining, the day is young, we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid burned out bulb? Border Collie: Just one. And then I'll replace any wiring that's not up to code. Dachshund: You know I can't reach that stupid lamp! 12

13 Rottweiler: Make me Boxer: Who cares? I can still play with my squeaky toys in the dark. Lab: Oh, me, me!!!!! Pleeeeeeeeeze let me change the light bulb! Can I? Can I? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can I? Pleeeeeeeeeze, please, please, please! German Shepherd: I'll change it as soon as I've led these people from the dark, check to make sure I haven't missed any, and make just one more perimeter patrol to see that no one has tried to take advantage of the situation. Jack Russell Terrier: I'll just pop it in while I'm bouncing off the walls and furniture. Old English Sheep Dog: Light bulb? I'm sorry, but I don't see a light bulb! Cocker Spaniel: Why change it? I can still pee on the carpet in the dark. Greyhound: It isn't moving. Who cares? Australian Shepherd: First, I'll put all the light bulbs in a little circle... 13

14 Poodle: I'll just blow in the Border Collie's ear and he'll do it. By the time he finishes rewiring the house, my nails will be dry. How many cats does it take to change a light bulb? The Cat's Answer: Cats do not change light bulbs. People change light bulbs. So, the real question is: how long will it be before I can expect some light, some dinner, and a massage? ALL OF WHICH PROVES, ONCE AGAIN, THAT WHILE DOGS HAVE MASTERS, CATS HAVE STAFF! I Will Change! To the tune of This Little Light of Mine By Teepa Snow 14

15 I am gonna meet and greet Before I start to treat I am gonna meet and greet Before I check your feet I am gonna meet and greet Before I help you eat How I start sets us up to succeed! No more just gettin it done I m gonna DO with you No more just gettin it done I m gonna help you through No more just gettin it done We re gonna work, we two Cause if I do it ALL, we BOTH LOSE! No more chicken butt I m gonna bend my knees No more chicken butt I m gonna sit, you see No more chicken butt To kneel can set me free Cause my back is important to me! 15

16 I m gonna laugh and dance with you Not just watch and frown I m gonna laugh and dance with you Not just stand around I m gonna laugh and dance with you We ll really go to town For the POWER of JOY I have found! What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. -Pericles DISCLAIMER The content contained in this presentation is strictly for informational purposes. Therefore, if you wish to apply concepts or ideas contained from this presentation you are taking full responsibility for your actions. Neither the creators, nor the copyright holder shall in any event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this material, which is provided as is, and without warranties. Any links are for information purposes only and are not warranted for content, accuracy or any other implied or explicit purpose. This presentation is copyrighted by Positive Approach to Care and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, with ALL rights reserved. No part of this may be copied, or changed in any format, sold, or used in any way other than what is outlined within this under any circumstances without express permission from Positive Approach to Care. Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved Teepa Snow and Positive Approach to Care 16

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