In Conversation with Lori Lemasters to Bring Her Insights on Caregiver
Support

Caregiving can be an isolating experience, but it’s necessary to know that caregivers aren’t alone in this daunting time.

Over 16 million care for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Caregiving can feel overwhelming and exhausting. It may feel like you’re the only person dealing with so much. That’s why caregiver support groups are helpful because they consist of people in the same situation as yours. Talking with someone who truly understands what you’re going through validates your experiences, reduces stress, and offers connection and support.

Receiving support can help caregivers feel less lonely, and isolated, reduce depression, and gain a sense of control & empowerment. To maximize quality care while keeping your mental and physical health in check, caregivers must find a caregiver supporter. They’re a great place to ask for advice, vent frustrations, and learn about valuable resources.

To shed some light on the same, we interviewed a home care industry expert to bring her perspective on the necessity of support for caregivers.

Let’s get started with knowing what our expert thinks of the home care industry:

Question 1: What made you become a professional caregiver supporter?

In 2001 my mother survived a massive stroke. She was the caregiver to my father, which left both of them in need of care. I became the primary caregiver for eight years until they passed. My mother and I felt that there was a reason we went through this journey, and we wanted to use our experience to help others.

Question 2: In your opinion, what is the best part about becoming a caregiver?

This is a tricky question: for me, it was spending those years in service to my parents and giving me the ability to give back to them for all the quality years they gave me growing up.

Question 3: How do you motivate caregivers to practice self-care while offering senior care?

Every person is different, so what works for one may not work for another. I encourage every caregiver to begin by defining what “self-care” is to them. Next, I work with them to identify how much time they need for different types of self-care and how often and create a plan. For instance, stepping outside to breathe for five to ten minutes is self-care, and performing a couple of times daily can get you through several hours. Longer self-care breaks are also good, and when you have them planned out, they are more likely to be practiced.

Question 4: What activities should caregivers indulge in to avoid burnout?

A large part of my work involves Therapeutic Journal Writing. I teach caregivers to use eighteen different writing techniques to help manage stress and identify triggers.

Question 5: What advice do you give caregivers struggling with keeping calm while providing quality care?

It is essential to get to the root of what is causing their current emotion (anger, stress, anxiety, etc.) Caregiving is filled with emotion, and the feelings do not always come from the situation. Often the sentiment may be triggered by past events, so it is vital to understand the underlying event causing the emotion.

Therapeutic Journal Writing is a great way to get to the core of your emotions and helps you plan toward understanding and self-directed change.

Final Thoughts

Caregiving is a critical part of a strong society as they provide care to those who need it the most, contributing to the fabric of the overall community. Resilient communities are those in which people rely on one another, trust each other, ask for help, and pull one another through difficult times. They remind us how much we need and how critical caring- not just caregiving- is vital to our individual and collective well-being.