If you’re providing support to a senior, you are a caregiver. While caregiving is rewarding, getting support is crucial to long term success. No one can be expected to support another person all on their own. Luckily, there are some amazing tools out there specifically for caregivers and their seniors! Our team of social workers asked their caregiving clients what their most used caregiver tools are, and here were some on their responses.
- Caregiver Support Groups
Sometimes the greatest need for caregivers is the feeling of relief when they realize they are not alone. Caregiver Support Groups focus on helping individuals care for themselves and their loved ones. Many caregivers use them to connect about caregiving struggles and gain insight from their peers. Other caregivers can help you find resources and learn tricks and different methods of taking on the many challenges you face.
Senior Community Services offers many options for caregiver support groups, including virtual and in-person, with enough variety to work for everyone’s schedules. These are often completely free and open so that caregivers come when they can. We currently offer both virtual and in-person support groups for caregivers.
Sometimes staying organized is the hardest part of being a caregiver. Luckily there is a solution! CareNextion.org is a free and secure online tool that helps care teams of families and friends with centralized communication, task scheduling & assignment, and journaling. Winner of a 2021 Caregiver Friendly Award, the newly revamped CareNextion offers caregivers a whole new experience to organizing their caregiving needs including an amazing new App!
By utilizing the shared calendar, care teams can schedule, assign, and complete tasks with ease. And when big information needs to be saved and shared, caregivers use the journal function to track progress, doctor’s visits, and other important information. Our social workers and caregivers are especially excited about how easy CareNextion is for everyone to use.
“We organize all of our tasks and events for our grandmother on a shared calendar, and we can all stay informed as a family, and pitch in when we are able to,” –Andrew J, a local caregiver.
Looking for even more support? Careteams can even add licensed social workers into the conversation for additional insight and help. Additionally, a favorite feature for Minnesota Caregivers offered on CareNextion is an amazing resource list that is always continuing to grow!
- Caregiver Consultant
Sometimes we need more guidance than can be offered to us in a support group or by simple web searches. Who better to help you than Licensed Social Workers with all the expertise, experience, and knowledge of resources! These one-on-one consultations address caregivers’ concerns about the care receiver by: identifying their needs, developing person-centered approaches, problem solving, decision making, and referral to services. Caregivers greatly benefit from reducing stress, receiving support, and finding life balance.
Caregivers can often utilize amazing resources at little to no cost, but wouldn’t be able to know how to access them or which ones were right for them. By bringing an expert into the fold for a consultation, the long-term impact is incredible! To find a consult, check out social workers in your area that specialize in guiding caregivers and seniors. For Minnesota locals, you’re welcome to start with us and learn more HERE.
- Financial and Legal Planning
Financial and Legal planning can be incredibly intimidating, but in the long-run it is important and beneficial to start doing early. First, you want to open a discussion with the individual you help care for about power of attorney, healthcare directives, wills, and other important life decisions. The next step is to consult an Elder Law Attorney such as Guardian Counsel or Long, Reher, Hanson & Price about different tools available to you and your loved one.
By consulting with legal experts and having important conversations with your senior, you move forward with clear knowledge that you’ll be able to honor their wishes, reduce ambiguity about who should be making decisions later on, and all of the difficult decisions are already made. You also have to know about your care receiver’s finances to know what services can be added.
Legality and finances get complicated. Deal with it right away whenever possible.
- Self-Care and Therapy
It is paramount that caregivers remember that their own mental health and well-being are also important. Burnout, depression symptoms and feelings of being overwhelmed are also prevalent among caregivers. No one can be a great caregiver when they themselves are drowning, and the long-term implications can be devastating. To help manage these issues, our social workers recommend that you stay social, take time to be alone or with friends, and get rest.
It can be easy to put your own health on the back burner, but we recommend putting in purposeful time and energy into make sure you can keep the balance. Even with all the wonderful tools we’ve recommended above, being a caregiver is a challenge. Take time for yourself where you can, and consider reaching out to a professional like a therapist to help you stay healthy.
“I am the tree, and my caregiving is my fruit. If I don’t take care of my trunk and branches, my fruit will not flourish.” —Rebecca K, local caregiver.
Senior Community Services’ Caregiver Services are supported, in part, by Trellis, municipalities, and Hennepin County.
