What You Should Know About Stress Awareness Month

By superadmin | April 20, 2018 |

April is Stress Awareness Month. As a family caregiver for an elderly adult, this is a great opportunity for you to learn more about stress, how it can impact you, and the effect that it can have on your caregiver efforts for your parent, as well as other aspects of your life. By being aware of the potential for stress, you are more likely to be able to identify when you are dealing with stress and prepare yourself to avoid stress, manage it effectively, and reduce its impact on your daily life.

Caregiver in Spring Branch TX: Stress Awareness Month

Some things that you should know about stress include:

Fewer than half of those adults who consider themselves caregivers report their health to be good or excellent.
Approximately 17% of those adults who consider themselves caregivers report their health to be fair or poor, as compared to only 10% of those who are not caregivers.
Nearly half of family caregivers report experiencing high levels of stress as a result of their care efforts.
Caring for a parent or a spouse causes higher levels of stress than caring for another adult.
Among those who report that they did not have a choice in becoming a family caregiver for an aging adult, approximately 53% report high levels of emotional stress.
Those caring for an elderly adult with a chronic or life-threatening condition are more likely to experience high levels of emotional stress.
More than half of those caring for a senior with Alzheimer’s disease report high levels of emotional stress.

Emotional stress can be detrimental to your physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. Experiencing high levels of stress can diminish not just your quality of life, but also the quality of the care that you give your aging parent throughout their later years. It is extremely important to find ways to reduce this stress, manage it effectively, and avoid the consequences that can negatively impact your health and the care you give.

Being a family caregiver for an elderly adult can be extremely meaningful and fulfilling, but it can also be stressful. Trying to manage all of your parent’s needs as well as those of your children, your marriage, your home, your career, and any other obligations can make you feel overwhelmed and as though you are always trying to finish more than you have the time to do. Fortunately, home care can be there for you. An in-home care provider can step in to fill care gaps, manage potentially sensitive tasks that your parent or you are not comfortable with you handling, provide additional support and companionship, and give your parent the personalized services that they need to have the highest quality of life as they age in place. As their caregiver this will ease your stress, give you more time, and allow you to focus on all of the responsibilities of your life in the ways that are right for you and for your parent.