Overcoming Holiday Stress For Caregivers

Tips for Managing Holiday Stress For Caregivers

The holidays are always an exciting time to spend with family and friends. But they can also bring a lot of additional stress with the many events, planning, and changing needs of your loved ones. Here are four helpful tips from our Senior Home Companions team for overcoming holiday stress for caregivers. 

Manage Expectations

If your loved one is in the early stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s, they can sometimes experience confusion around the holidays. Getting out of their regular routine may be more upsetting than usual, and they could become frustrated by seeing more distant relatives they may not remember. Manage your expectations about how they will react to the holidays, help set their expectations for upcoming events, and do your best to enjoy as much about the season as you can.

Simplify Where You Can

If you normally host the big holiday meal, maybe see if someone else can host this year. Maybe you usually go out for holiday gift shopping, but can you order the same gifts online to be delivered to your home? Simplifying your holiday plans in small ways can add up to more quality time spent with your loved ones. And if you need a moment to run errands, an in-home companion from Senior Home Companions would be happy to spend time with your loved one!

Addressing Family Changes

If you notice while spending time together during the holidays that your loved ones need more help in their home, or might need residential care, it can sometimes be difficult to bring it up with them. If you need help addressing changes in the family dynamic, Senior Home Companions can provide assistance with our Family Matters planning. This new service brings an Senior Home Companions staff member alongside you to facilitate discussion on difficult topics in order to make fruitful plans for the future.

Respite Care

You may find yourself with extra commitments during the holidays, and less time to spend on regular day-to-day care of your loved one. Respite care from Senior Home Companions is an excellent way to ensure that your family member is still cared for while you attend a work party, volunteer at your child’s school event, or just take time to relax alone! Taking time for yourself during a stressful season ensures that you can care for others well, and you can rest assured that your loved one is receiving high quality care from our in-home caregivers!

Being a caregiver has its challenges any time of year, but can be especially tough during the holidays. We hope that a few of these tips will help you not just survive this holiday season, but thrive! Contact us today if you need help in managing your care!