During the month of April, I participated in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Here at Facing Cancer with Grace, I concentrated on writing posts for caregivers, There are many ways you can help a caregiver. Raising awareness of what day to day life is like as a caregiver is how I help.
At Heather Erickson Author/Writer/Speaker, I wrote a retrospective post about what it was like writing 55 posts, posting them all in April, and then reading and commenting on the blogs of other participants. Check it out!
In this post, I share some of the many ways you can help a caregiver.
By choosing a couple of these suggestions you can help a caregiver greatly reduce their stress, and cope with their role as a caregiver. Which suggestions you decide to take on, will depend on your relationship with the caregiver and their specific situation, such as whether or not they have children.
These suggestions come from chapter 10 of the book, Facing Cancer as a Friend: How to Support Someone who has Cancer
Here are some ways you can help a caregiver if you are close to them:
- Make sure the caregiver doesn’t neglect their health. They should be making regular trips to the doctor and dentist.
- Keep an eye out for signs of depression in the caregiver.
- Encourage the caregiver to set up a blog such as caringbridge.org or an email list so that they can keep people updated without having to repeat themselves so often. If they are overwhelmed by this, you could start it and maintain it until they’re ready to take it over. Of course, only do what they are comfortable with. And, have the caregiver review any updates for accuracy before posting.
- Allow the caregiver to vent. They often feel guilty expressing feelings of discouragement and frustration, so they keep them inside.
Here are some ways you can help a caregiver if they have young children:
- Bring your young children to visit elderly patients, caregivers, and their children. This can often brighten up their day.
- Babysit their children. Take them to and from school and activities. Take the kids out for a fun couple of hours. It can be an event, a restaurant, taking them out for ice cream, having them over for a sleepover, or just an hour in the park.
- Take children to dental and doctor’s appointments. All too often, these appointments slip through the cracks of a busy schedule being maintained by exhausted parents. Ensuring the kids get their normal check-ups can prevent problems for them later on.
- Offer to bring children to their place of worship if the parents are unable to go.
You can help a caregiver if you are close to the patient:
- Offer to spend time with the patient if the patient is too ill and unable to be left alone. This will enable the caregiver a couple of hours to get out of the house or even to just take a much-needed nap. This time can be very renewing.
Here are some ways you can help a caregiver by pampering them:
- Take the caregiver out for a coffee or lunch date.
- Schedule a weekly walk with the caregiver. This will help them get often needed exercise and fresh air. During inclement weather, you can walk in a mall. Often malls open early, before the stores do, so people can walk without the crowds. Check out the Wikipedia article on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_walking.
- Offer to take them out to a movie. If they’re too tired, drop off a rental with or without some microwave popcorn and some beverages. We have a couple of friends who took our entire family to the movies. It was an amazing gift to our family which we really appreciated.
- Treat him or her to a spa day or a beauty treatment: manicure/pedicure, facial, makeup application, massage, etc. It may be the first time they’ve felt pampered in a while.
- Arrange for a hairstylist to make a home visit to trim the entire family’s hair. This is something that’s often put on a back burner in the chaos of caregiving.
Here are some practical ways you can help a caregiver:
- Call when you are en route to a store to see if you can pick anything up for him/her.
- Say to the caregiver, “Give me a task.” It could be laundry or an errand like picking up groceries. Often, a patient will refuse the help that a caregiver greatly needs. Let them know that you can be in and out. No socializing needed (unless they would like some).
- Offer to clean one room of their house. Bring dusting polish, window cleaner, etc., so that you can get right down to work. He or she may want to participate. Many hands make light work and you can chat while you get the job done. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
- Offer to wash/fold laundry.
- Wash and clean the car.
- Help with seasonal tasks like cleaning gutters, raking leaves and shoveling.
Here are ways you can help a caregiver financially:
- Donate money or vacation time to cover paid-time-off hours for the caregiver (some employers allow this).
- Donate air miles so that they can take a trip or a family member from far away, with limited resources, can visit.
You can help a caregiver, spiritually, too:
- If you are a praying person, pray for the caregiver and any children the patient has. Tell the caregiver that they are in your prayers. It can make a big difference, especially if they are a Christian.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
I’d love to hear in the comment section, below. I appreciate my readers as well as the writing community. To show that appreciation, I use Comment Luv. Just leave a comment below and your latest post will get a link next to it. Thank you!
ABOUT HEATHER ERICKSON
In 2012 doctors diagnosed my husband, Dan, with stage IV lung cancer. Since then, our family has been learning what it means to face cancer. I’ve focused my writing and speaking on helping cancer patients and their families advocate for themselves and live life to the fullest, in spite of their illness. My goal is to help people face cancer with grace.
My book Facing Cancer as a Friend: How to Support Someone Who Has Cancer, is available on Amazon.com
Also, check out Facing Cancer as a Parent: Helping Your Children Cope with Your Cancer.
Also, put your memories into words with The Memory Maker’s Journal.
I also blog at Heather Erickson Author/Writer/Speaker
8 comments on “Ways You can Help a Caregiver”
Lori
May 7, 2018 at 5:09 pmBrilliant list of ideas – thank you for posting this! I’ll be heading over to amazon now to check out your book.
facingcancerwithgrace
May 7, 2018 at 9:54 pmThank you, Lori. Have an amazing week!
Archana
April 22, 2019 at 9:00 amWow! This is such a thoughtful list.. It would really help caregivers stay motivated, rested and recharged! May I link to your post on my blog?
Archana recently posted…S is Share
facingcancerwithgrace
April 22, 2019 at 6:42 pmThank you, Archana. You are more than welcome to link to any post on my blog that you like. Have a wonderful day!
Archana
April 24, 2019 at 1:05 amThank you Heather! Good Luck!
Archana recently posted…U is Unique
facingcancerwithgrace
May 19, 2019 at 2:05 pmThank you, Archana. I loved your A to Z Series.
slipper socks
February 23, 2021 at 3:02 amPerhaps they can no longer drive. Perhaps they have poor mobility and cannot go out alone and do not want to inconvenience a family member. Perhaps the crowds and long lines are too much for them at this stage. Whatever the reason, the ability to browse virtual shelves and shop from the comfort of their couches can be a huge convenience to many seniors.
[…] my ward disturbed for no reason at all. If visitors wish to genuinely help caregivers, then Heather Erickson has a list of thoughtful things that caregivers will really appreciate. e.g. Offering to do their […]