Logo-01

Aging Well

Health & Wellness

Empowering Wellness, Embracing Life: Aging Well Health and Wellness

(434) 352 – 8000

How to sustain & protect yourself as a caregiver during isolation.

Now more than ever, it’s important for health systems and health care organizations to create and ensure an infrastructure and resources to support physicians, nurses, and care team members.

The following lists provide practical strategies for health system leadership to consider in support of their physicians and care teams during COVID-19.

Being a caregiver can be rewarding but can also be physically and mentally taxing. This is even more true during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Though caring for your patient or your loved one is often the number one priority, it is just as important to ensure and attend to your own physical and mental wellbeing. Therefore, we encourage caregivers to make meaningful time for themselves and engage in self-care.

By doing so, reduces the likelihood of developing caregiver stress. Caregiver stress also referred to as caregiver burden, is the caregiver’s negative impact on the caregiver’s emotional, physical, social, and financial functioning, increasing the risk for depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, and other health concerns. Caregiver stress is one of the greatest predictors of negative outcomes for the caregivers themselves and can negatively impact the individual’s quality of care.

It can be easy to make time for yourself, especially while sheltering in place due to COVID-19. However, it is still important to find a consistent time every week to focus on yourself and your own needs. Below are some tips to help manage caregiver stress: