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Looking After Yourself
Caring for someone who is dependent on you is a big responsibility. It is realistic, not selfish, to think carefully about taking care of your own health and organising support for yourself. If you don’t look after yourself, you run the risk of becoming so stressed or exhausted that you are no longer able to care for the person who has had a stroke.
Look After Your Own Health
Think about what you can do to look after your health. Common problems are back strain, from lifting or moving the person needing care, tiredness and stress. Stress can cause sleeplessness, loss of appetite, intense anxiety and depression.
Many carers find themselves smoking and drinking more, to relieve some of the stresses of caring. This may seem to help in the short term, but in the long term cigarettes and excessive alcohol will damage your health. If you would like to cut down smoking or drinking, talk to your GP.
A district nurse or physiotherapist can teach you how to move or lift someone so that you don’t strain your back. They may also be able to show you relaxation techniques that will help symptoms of tiredness and stress.
Most big bookshops offer a range of books and tapes on advice and relaxation techniques. If you manage to organise a gentle exercise routine which takes you out of the house for half an hour, several times a week, this can increase your energy levels and help you feel more positive.
Get A Regular Break
Many carers say that getting a regular break—and using it to the full allowing them to let off steam or enjoy themselves—is invaluable. Giving carers a break is one of the most effective ways to help them carry on.
‘Respite care’ is the term used for services designed to give the main carer a break. Respite care can take the form of
- care in the home from a trained care assistant or volunteer, for a few hours a week
- care outside the home, for example at a day centre, lunch club or social club
- longer breaks—from a few days to a couple of weeks—in a residential or nursing home or possibly NHS hospital
The services available to provide respite care vary widely from area to area. Ask social services about what is available in your area, from voluntary organisations as well as the NHS. Some respite care services may charge, or ask you to contribute towards the costs.
Try And Arrange A Holiday
If you feel like going for a well deserved holiday together there are specialist organisations that can help you with arrangements. Help might come in the form of transport, providing practical care, finding accessible accommodation.
You can also apply to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) for a Welfare Grant towards the cost of a holiday for you and your partner—phone Head Office for details 0131 225 6963.
Support From Other Carers
Every carer is an individual, and each caring situation is unique. You are likely to find that most people who do not have experience of caring for another adult had no idea what it was going to involve. You may not even think of yourself as a ‘carer’.
However you will find that all types of carers have a lot in common and it can be very helpful to meet and talk to other people who understand exactly what you’re going through. There might be a carers group in your area.
If you don’t like the idea of joining a group and many people don’t, it is still worth getting in touch with a Carers organisation. They will offer you information and advice about how to look after yourself and you will feel supported by membership and newsletters.
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