Yesterday Margery Pabst, author of “Enrich Your Caregiving Journey” was a guest on my BlogTalkRadio show. If you have time, I highly recommend you listen to the archived recording. She shared so many nuggets of wisdom for caregivers. I’ve decided to highlight 3 tools that I think are quite unique and powerful.
- Create a Circle of Feelings chart. Please don’t pass this idea off as fluff. Try it once and you will understand its power. Draw a circle, and divide it up into pie slices. On one side of the pie, write down all your positive feelings. On the other side, write down all your negative feelings. This exercise will help you recognize and acknowledge all of your emotions, especially conflicting emotions. If you do this exercise regularly during your caregiving journey, you’ll stay in touch with your feelings. Margery asserts this will actually facilitate your caregiving. I agree!
- Identify your values. Then identify the values of everyone integral to your care recipient. It’s often the difference in values, the unspoken “family” rules that cause the conflicts. Margery advises we should do our best to honor others’ value systems. But, ultimately, if we can’t reach consensus, we should be acting in the best interest of the person we are caring for.
- Develop a Delegation Plan and Can/Will Analysis. Willingness to delegate can make or break a caregiver. Asking for help is one of the most difficult things to do. Margery offers a wonderful process for creating the Delegation Plan. Once a caregiver decides what tasks can be delegated, then she/he decides who is the right person to ask. Is the person capable? Is the person willing? Doing this step builds strength and trust in the whole circle of caregiving.
Margery says as we navigate through the caregiving journey, we will find ourselves transformed. We’ll realize caregiving has taught us so much. We’ve grown and developed in ways we never thought possible. It wasn’t until I was thrown into a crisis and primary caregiving role, that I truly understood what I had heard many times before. Caregiving is one of the hardest things we’ll ever have to do in our lives, but it is also one of the most rewarding!
You can reach Margery Pabst at her website: http://www.pivotalcrossings.com/
{ 6 trackbacks }
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Here’s the link to the archived recording of my interview with Margery Pabst.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dalec/2010/04/06/enrich-your-caregiving-journey-an-authorexpert-speaks
Thank you. Dale Carter
Excellent tips… I agree – “Willingness to delegate can make or break a caregiver. Asking for help is one of the most difficult things to do.”
- Kevin
Hi Dale, Thanks for joining us in the latest Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use at SandwichINK. I appreciated your sharing these tips with us.
Have a great week!