When caring for your parent, spouse, or someone who is dependent on you for compassion, attention to detail is
crucial. Whether you are providing palliative care as a volunteer or a paid professional, the emotional attachment can be as wearing and tiring as the physical requirements.
As a caregiver, you are devoting a portion of your life and time to this particular person. However, for their benefit as well as yours, you too deserve some rest. You may believe that as a palliative care provider you can sleep when your mother or father sleeps, or the sitting in the garden with your spouse is relaxation time for the two of you. The reality is when your particular person is sleeping you are still responsible for caring and watching over them. This also may be the time to prepare medications, meals, or their care time. The same might be said for the garden time. You may need to be more alert and watch for signs of fatigue, overheating, or chills.
As the individual providing palliative care in Dayton, OH, you need respite for rest and relaxation. That assistance may be as simple as having another family member or paid professional come in and relieve you so you may take the necessary breaks. When taking a break, it is often recommended the palliative care person removed themselves from the environment. This respite is an opportunity to live life outside of illness, to enjoy the personal interest.
Use this time to take an uninterrupted nap. Have a massage or go out for a meal that does not include assisting someone else eat, or dine on your selected menu. Rest and relaxation will provide both the family and the professional palliative care provider the needed energy and focus to return and provide a smooth journey from palliative care to hospice if that is the ultimate path.
