{"id":4610,"date":"2018-02-22T12:33:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T17:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"\/allentown\/?p=4610"},"modified":"2024-01-29T10:38:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T15:38:20","slug":"caregiver-allentown-pa-new-to-being-a-caregiver-here-are-5-tips-to-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/blog\/2018\/02\/22\/caregiver-allentown-pa-new-to-being-a-caregiver-here-are-5-tips-to-help\/","title":{"rendered":"New to Being a Caregiver? Here are 5 Tips to Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often times a person becomes a caregiver<\/strong><\/em> very suddenly. An older adult family member may suffer a sudden illness, like a heart attack, stroke, or cancer diagnosis. When that happens, it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and uncertain of what to do next.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re new to being a caregiver, here are 5 tips to help you get started.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Caregiver Allentown<\/a> PA – New to Being a Caregiver? Here are 5 Tips to Help\n

#1 Find Sources of Support<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You probably have a lot of questions about being a caregiver, and throughout the course of your caregiving journey, more questions are likely to come up. Locate people and organizations that can help you learn about being a caregiver. You might want to join a caregiver support group where you\u2019ll likely meet others who have been caregivers for a longer time and can provide you with advice. Another good source of assistance is the local senior center. They may be able to give you information about other local resources.<\/p>\n

#2 Find People to Help<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You shouldn\u2019t try to take on being a caregiver all on your own. Ask family members and friends for help. Sometimes they might be more receptive to helping if you tell them exactly what you need help with. For example, if someone needs to do the grocery shopping for the older adult, you might ask someone to handle just that task. Or, you can offer a list of things you need help with and let people choose. If you don\u2019t have family members or friends who can help, consider contacting a home care<\/a> agency to hire a professional caregiver to come to the older adult\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

#3 Let Your Children Be Involved<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a parent taking care of your own parent, you can feel like the rope in a tug of war. Instead of trying to divide your time between the two, allow your children to be involved. Even young children can help with simple tasks, like folding grandma\u2019s towels when they come out of the dryer, or bringing grandpa a snack.<\/p>\n

#4 Take Care of Yourself<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in caregiving that they forget to take care of their own health, too. However, your good health is extremely important to your success as a caregiver. After all, if you\u2019re not well, you won\u2019t be able to take care of your family member. Keep up with your regular health appointments, eat healthy, and make time to exercise.<\/p>\n

#5 Create a File<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Put together a file that contains the older adult\u2019s family history, a list of their medications, and documents pertinent to their care. Include photocopies of important documents, such as their insurance cards and Medicare ID. Make sure other family caregivers know where to find the file in case of an emergency. The information in the file can make getting appropriate emergency care easier and streamline the process of checking into a hospital<\/a> when needed.<\/p>\n

Sources:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/healthy-aging\/guide\/caregiving-getting-started<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/caregiving\/basics\/info-2017\/new-caregivers-rules.html<\/p>\n

If you or an aging loved one are in need of Caregiver Services in Allentown PA<\/em><\/span> or the surrounding areas, contact the caring professionals at\u00a0<\/strong>Extended Family Care of Allentown. Call today at (610) 200-6097.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caregiver Allentown PA-Often times a person becomes a caregiver very suddenly. When that happens, it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and uncertain of what to do next. If you\u2019re new to being a caregiver, here are 5 tips to help you get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,47],"tags":[178],"class_list":["post-4610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caregiver-allentown-pa","category-home-care","tag-caregiver-allentown-pa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4610"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13629,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions\/13629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extendedfamilycare.com\/allentown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}