Self-Care Tip: Caregiver Support

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We all play many roles in life: sister, father, grandchild, worker, caregiver—to name just a few. Balancing these different roles is difficult on a good day and we can end up feeling spread thin trying to meet so many needs.

When you work in the healthcare field, caring for others all day (or all night, depending on which shift you work), you often don’t have a break before getting home and jumping right back into caregiving. Playing these different roles has become even more challenging because of added levels of stress, worry, and grief that have come with this pandemic. If you are feeling this way, you are not alone.

Whether you are caring for your children, a dependent adult, foster kids, or others in your family and community, you might benefit from some extra support. Below are two suggestions for ways that you could reach out. If either of them looks interesting to you, give it a shot! You do not always have to be the one caring for others—you deserve to be taken care of as well.

  • There are several support groups for parents and other caregivers popping up on Facebook and other social media platforms. Do a search for something like“pandemic parenting” on Facebook to find some options. You may find some good advice or that you feel better being able to get some things off your chest.

  • National Parent Helpline: 1-855-427-2736, https://www.nationalparenthelpline.org/ (many counties and non-profits offer similar parent support/crisis lines too, depending on your geographic location).