Becoming Stress-Proof: How To Reduce Or Eliminate Stress When Caring For Elderly or Aging Parents

Take care of yourself, too: Caring for a loved one can be tough. Make sure you are taking care of yourself and setting aside time to recharge, so you are the strongest you can be for your parents and everyone around you.

Donna Merritt, Vice President of Clinical Quality at Interim HealthCare was recently interviewed by medium.com. The article discusses stress management in the context of caring for elderly parents. Donna Merritt, from Interim Healthcare, defines stress as the body's reaction to life changes that can lead to negative emotions.

The article highlights the difference between chronic stress, often caused by factors like work uncertainty, and the situation faced by many adults caring for aging parents. Merritt suggests that a lack of work-life balance can be a significant contributor to chronic stress.

To manage stress while caring for elderly parents, the article offers tips like:

Planning your Day: Having a schedule can help manage time and reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Prioritizing Tasks: Focus on the most important tasks first and delegate or eliminate less critical ones.
Mental Compartmentalization: Separate work and personal concerns to avoid them bleeding into each other.

The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of self-care for those caring for elderly parents.

Read the full article here.