We all have stress in our lives. Whether your stress comes from providing care for another person, your job, or other factors, how you manage it has an impact on both you and those around you.
Stress management is also one of the pillars of Alzheimer’s prevention. Balancing your daily stress is not only vital to your physical and mental health as a caregiver, but it also has a significant impact in helping prevent memory loss.
In this dementia care workshop, A Trove of Tips for Managing Caregiver Stress, Vicki Kaufmann of CaregiverFamilies.com explains good and bad stress, and what caregivers can do to better handle the stress that comes with the daily challenges you face in caring for loved ones with dementia.
Vicki discusses:
- What is good and bad stress
- Some effects of chronic long-term stress
- Benefits of progressive relaxation
- About the “Whine Cellar” healthy coping technique
- How to let go of guilt and worry less
- The importance of plugging into social networks and support systems
And Bonus management techniques and ideas for:
- A “Healthy Body”
- An “Alert Mind”
- An “Alive Soul”
Please watch the replay by clicking below:
Or listen on the go:
Download the audio file by right clicking directly on the play button below and selecting “Save audio as.”
Make sure you stop by and check out Vicki’s memoir, Elegy for Mom: A Memoir of Family Caregiving, Alzheimer’s, and Devotion. While you’re there, you can also subscribe to her newsletter so you don’t miss a thing.
Read Vicki’s guest post right here on Together in This: A Recipe for Caregiver Stress in a Nutshell
We also had a 30 minute follow up conversation as part of the Together in This Dementia Conversations series: Managing Caregiver Stress
Bonus Material
As discussed in the workshop, to help you continue your educational process, here are the resources we mentioned:
- 14 Tips For Managing Caregiver Stress – free pdf from Vicki
- Centre for Studies of Human Stress – organization dedicated to improving physical and mental health
- Progressive Relaxation: Innerhealthstudio.com – site with progressive relaxation resources
- Why We Laugh TED talk – 17 minute video
- Grain Brain – recommended book by Dr. David Perlmutter
- Free printable Mandalas for download – patterns for adult coloring
- Zen Patterns and Designs – adult coloring book
If you wish to be notified about upcoming events, you can register here: Subscribe to Upcoming Empowerment Event Notifications.
Questions or thoughts? Let me know by commenting below:
This is an interesting read, Mike. Thanks for sharing! It is essential to pay attention to our health by managing stress to become an effective caregiver. Our audience will surely learn a lot from Vicki’s tips so we included it in our roundup about different ways to cope with the financial and emotional toll of family caregiving. Hope you can drop by and read our article here: http://www.altcp.org/family-caregiving-coping-with-emotional-and-financial-toll/.