Yesterday, our Caregiver Support Group met for the first time this school year to learn practical tips on caring for ourselves while we care for others. Because there were a few new people, we took some time at the beginning to get to know each other and the challenges that we are facing. Most had come in smiling and seeming so carefree, but we quickly learned that there is a lot of hard situations that everyone is dealing with! It was encouraging to be around others who understood at least parts of what each person was going through!
The material we covered came from Dr. Heather Sandison’s new book Reversing Alzheimer’s: The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health. Dr. Sandison devotes an entire chapter to Care for the Caregiver. You can see a summary of the content we covered in the slides below:
The attendees also received a gratitude journal and took some time to practice intentional gratitude by writing down something they were grateful for today, this week, or (if this week was a hard week) during their favorite time of year.
Finally, we all participated in a stress relieving technique called box breathing. A member said they were grateful to learn this technique when they did because they would be needing it during a dentist appointment for their loved one later that afternoon!
If you are an ACU faculty or staff member and have interest in joining our Caregiver Support Group, please reach out to us today by emailing gero@acu.edu. We meet the last Tuesday of every month. We have local speakers come and cover a variety of topics!