Senior Living April 27, 2022

Caregiver Stress

Caregiver Stress 

This blog post is for all the people going through life stresses associated with caregiving.

As a CABR Seniors Real Estate designee, I am trained to help my clients prepare for housing transitions for their senior loved ones. My background as a Masters Level Individual, Couples and Family Therapist coupled with my SRES designation lends itself to this specialty in the world of real estate.

I find that the clients that seek me out for this type of work are dealing with many types of stress. They are often faced with very busy schedules, care of children young and old, and the stress of caring for loved ones that are beginning to make decisions about their future living situations. Clients often reach out because they need help developing a plan to address these issues. My expertise is helping them navigate their particular situations, beginning the work of starting conversations with their loved ones, preparing their loved ones current homes for the marketplace-downsizing-organizing-donating, looking through the many housing options available in their communities and providing valuable resources to help with the process.

You can find many articles related to Seniors in my blog, A Real Estate Guide, that address each of these steps.  https://www.hellersells.com/guide

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Caregiver stress is real

This quote from the Caregiver Assistance Network is a window into the stress of caregiving.

“Nearly one out of every three people in the United States are caring for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend. Many of them need resources to learn how to take care of their family members, as well as themselves, in order to avoid isolation, burnout or illness.”

Please see the following resources available for caregivers

https://www.help4seniors.org/programs-services/caregiver-support

Do you frequently help an older loved-one with housekeeping, grocery shopping, errands, meal preparation, transportation, paperwork, or personal care (bathing, getting dressed)? If so, you are one of more than 65 million Americans who provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend.

Many caregivers do not identify themselves as such. They tend to see themselves as just doing what they are supposed to do as a spouse or child. However, they are more inclined to seek help and become more skilled if they identify themselves as a caregiver.

Council on Aging’s Caregiver Support Program can help. The program provides one-on-one support for family or volunteer caregivers.

The program works to:

  • Reduce caregiver stress, burden and injuries
  • Increase caregiver confidence and knowledge
  • Improve the quality of care
  • Help caregivers balance their lives and caregiving responsibilities
  • Provide respite care (time off/away for the caregiver) in an appropriate, safe environment (not available in Clermont County)

Program qualifications

To qualify, the caregiver or care recipient must be at least 60 years old and the caregiver must live in Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton or Warren counties. There is no age requirement for family caregivers who provide care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders with neurological and organic brain dysfunction.

For more information, review the Caregiver Support fact sheet or

Call Council on Aging at (513) 721-1025 or (800) 252-0155, Option 2.

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AARP provides helpful information in the link below

*For information on Caregiver Burnout and Ways to Cope with Stress- See link below provided by AARP.

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/life-balance/info-2019/caregiver-stress-burnout.html?CMP=KNC-DSO-CAREGIVING-SelfCare-10905-GOOG-CaregiverBurnout-Exact-NonBrand-ENG&ds_rl=1288354&gclid=CjwKCAiAgvKQBhBbEiwAaPQw3CJpqDwVgTGEgmabRb3R0xU2Q7RKZ2sPPCcojK713GhlWthTzN0TFBoCAvkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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Cleveland Clinic Resources are also available on their website

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9225-caregiver-burnout

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As I discussed above, caring for our loved ones can be challenging but there are resources out there to help. 

If you are feeling the effects of caregiver stress and want to seek help, you can also seek out a counselor or join a caregiver support group. You don’t need to feel alone. There are so many people that would love to connect. 

  • CAREline (513) 869-4483 – a helpline providing resource information, referrals and support.
  • https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/life-balance/info-2021/support-groups.html
  • https://www.help4seniors.org/programs-services/caregiver-support

Please feel free to reach out to me any time.  https://www.hellersells.com

Photo by MART PRODUCTION

 

Senior Living March 28, 2022

Top 10 Rightsizing Tips for Seniors

Decluttering and Rightsizing!

Many of us seem to be having the same conversations about simplifying our lives, decluttering our homes and getting rid of “stuff”.  The “stuff” just simply bogs us down.  It is amazing how it all accumulates.  From large homes to more modest homes, we all seem to have one shared experience, Clutter!  We love shows like Marie Kondo’s Tidying up with Marie Kondo on Netflix and magazines like Simplify Magazine, always looking for new ideas and strategies to face the accumulation.

As I explore resources on this topic, I realize that there is a wealth of information out there and lots of tips to begin this process. I think the tips in the SRES article below will help you get a good start. Please feel free to contact me anytime to discuss the process.  I certainly have helped many clients work through the journey of rightsizing!

Top 10 Rightsizing Tips for Seniors

Top 10 Rightsizing Tips for Seniors

1. Start with the easy stuff.

Eliminate anything that’s broken, damaged, or no longer wanted. Then, go to the out-of-the-way spaces like attics, crawlspaces, and garages. Progress in these “easier” parts of your home will help you build momentum and tackle the harder-to-decide areas.

2. Ask yourself,  “If this disappeared tomorrow, would I run out and replace it?”

If you wouldn’t miss it or need to replace it, it’s probably not worth keeping.

3. Don’t be a storage unit for others.

If friends or relatives have left things for you to store, it’s time to ask them to pick up their possessions—or arrange to have them shipped. You may need to be tough and set a firm deadline, after which you will donate the items.

4. Ask for help.

Although you can do much of this work on your own, a family member, a good friend, or even a professional organizer can help make the job more manageable.

5. Decide what’s important.

Pretend you are moving overseas, but you can only take a severely limited number of items because it costs a small fortune to ship them. What items belong on your list? These are the things that matter most to you!

6. Is this something from a lifestyle I no longer have or want?

For example, if you have three cabinets full of plastic containers, but only cook for one or two people, it’s reasonable to eliminate a few plastic sets—and dishes, pots, and pans.

7. Schedule a regular time each week—or several days a week—to work on rightsizing.

Realize that rightsizing is a life-changing marathon, not a sprint. You didn’t accumulate everything overnight, and you won’t sort it all out overnight, either.

8. Value what you keep.

The fewer things you keep, the more you will treasure and enjoy what you have, instead of tucking items away in a closet or stacked among dozens of other things. These are the select, meaningful items worth having in your personal space.

9. Prevent new collections from forming.

Instead of material gifts, ask people to spoil you by sharing time, enjoying new experiences, and helping you indulge in luxuries (spa certificates, imported chocolate, a musical or other theatre production, gift certificates for dinner out, etc.). In other words, ask for special treats that you love and want, but don’t always buy for yourself.

10. Use age to your advantage.

Now is a great time to give items to family members that you eventually want them to have. Take a photo (preferably a digital one) of your recipients holding their treasured gifts and create a scrapbook of “next generation” memories. These images can serve as powerful reminders of your most cherished items moving forward into posterity with the most special people in your life.

This information is provided by http://sres.com
If you are interested in related articles, please see another one of my blog articles below and subscribe. https://www.hellersells.com/2022/02/16/helping-our-senior-loved-ones-prepare-their-homes-for-sale

Photo by Julia M Cameron

Additional resources:

New Life Furniture Bank

Everything But The House

For more information please feel free to contact me:  https://www.hellersells.com
Introduction November 23, 2021

Introduction to my BLOG

Hello! My blog focuses on providing resource information for individuals and families who are preparing for or who are currently experiencing the stress of family transitions. Read on and you will see you are not alone!

So… your children are transitioning into an independent life and/or you are realizing your parents are transitioning into a more dependent life.  Each comes with a specific set of challenges and some of us are right in the middle of both!

Life is an interesting circle of changes and transitions. Perhaps you are entering the time when your children begin moving out of your homes to purchase their first house. Likewise, as our parents get older and needing to evaluate where they are, the time arrives to explore the many options available to them and you. We are in a unique position of being privy to both, and finding the balance between them.

It can be very overwhelming and difficult.

Our personal struggles begin to blend with our responsibility to those around us. More and more, we find ourselves discussing with our friends our new aches and pains, our struggles with less energy, and the ever popular forgetting everything. The extra contribution of supporting our children and parents in their adjustments to life’s circumstances can seem daunting. But is there a way for us to be prepared?

We need to get a handle on this! All of this responsibility is challenging and we need answers – quick.

You probably find yourself asking friends, family, google, where do I find help?

How do I help my children leave their family home and become independent?

How do my adult children get qualified for a mortgage without a work history?

Who can I trust to work in my child’s best interest and take the time to help them understand how the process of buying a home works?

Who will take the time to educate and prepare them for the responsibilities that come with home ownership?

How do we help them with down payments, monetary gifts etc. to help them qualify to buy a house?

What do we do with all their stuff?

Do we get rid of all the lovely and sweet gifts we have treasured all these years; all the pottery, artwork, cuteness, that at the time was our world and is now clutter?

Are their ways to preserve all that stuff without throwing it out?

How can my parents afford the astronomical prices of assisted living, private pay nursing, medical bills, medical equipment, and all the things we need as we age?

This can quickly become overwhelming! But what can we do about it?

The resources are out there.

But how do you pay for them? What if you don’t have time to be on the phone for hours, to drive elderly parents to doctor’s appointments, to visit every house your child wants to look at while still working full time? Is there a simpler way?

I created this blog because many of my friends are going through similar experiences with their newly adult children and their aging parents. Navigating the system can be overwhelming and very frustrating and I want to help.

This is the purpose of Family Resource Page with Tracy Heller

My goal is to use my background as a social worker, individual, couples,  and family therapist, researcher, and my knowledge as a Seniors Real Estate Specialist to create a place where you can go to find answers, learn something new, explore resources, ask questions, and find shared experiences with many others in the same position as you.

For more information on my background and experience, click the link below.

https://hellersells.com/2021/11/23/my-background

Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels