Take Care of Yourself, Too: Caregiver Stress and Health Behaviors

The period of time when you are a family caregiver is probably one of the more stressful, if not the most stressful, times of your life. Such stress can make you prone to illness yourself, especially with the lack of rest you're probably experiencing, so you really need to guard your health. You cannot give your Alzheimer's patient the best care possible if you are not well yourself.

In a study reported in Aging & Mental Health in May 1999, a survey was given to 108 caregivers, 57 of them wives, and 51 of them daughters of dementia patients. The study was conducted to describe lifestyle and health behaviors, including alcohol consumption, smoking, exercise, and medication use. Prior studies had explored the negative psychological implications of caregiving, but few had previously investigated the effects upon the health of caregivers. The findings showed caregivers to be remarkably similar in health behaviors to non-caregivers of the same age and sex. Though it revealed that more caregiving women drink than non-caregivers, the amount consumed was smaller. Caregiving daughters smoked more than caregiving wives, though altogether the caregivers smoked no more than non-caregivers. Caregiving women seemed to exercise as much, although not to the level of intensity as non-caregiver women.

It is easy to understand why the stress of caregiving might make those with habits like smoking and alcohol consumption to increase and/or find it difficult to quit. But instead self-medicating with behaviors that can be destructive to ones health, caregivers need to develop positive and healthy habits. This is necessary in order to assure that they can effectively care for their dementia patients as long as possible.

The Alzheimer's Association has suggested seven steps you can take to make sure that you are a healthy caregiver: (1) See your physician regularly; (2) Get screened for stress and depression; (3) Get plenty of rest; (4) Eat well-balanced meals; (5) Exercise regularly; (6) Accept help from others; and, (7) Call the Alzheimer's Association at (800) 272-3900 or your local chapter.

Additionally, you must plan for the possibility of not being able to continue as caregiver. It is important to realize that if you become ill or if caring for your person with Alzheimer's becomes more than you can cope with, you must have a plan. The Alzheimer's Association has given some guidance for such a plan here: http://www.alz.org/IHaveAD/Planning/Choo...

It is also important to realize that nursing homes often have very long waiting lists, and if your patient is not on a waiting list, you may not be able to find a place for them if you need one quickly. You don't have to say yes when there is an opening. You can always say that you aren't ready just yet and ask them to keep you on the list.

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