Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, December 25, 2020 Family caregiver resolutions for 2021 Today, a record 53 million people in the U.S. are providing care for older loved ones. Caregiving brings with it many emotional rewards. But caregiving can be physically and emotionally demanding. Caregivers are stressed as they struggle to balance caregiving tasks with their work and other family responsibilities. They lose sleep worrying about the quality of care theyâ€™re providing. Itâ€™s no wonder! Todayâ€™s family caregivers are asked to perform medical tasks â€œthat would make a nursing student tremble,â€? noted AARP vice president Susan Reinhart. The pandemic of 2020 has increased caregiversâ€™ workload considerably. An October 2020 poll from The Associated PressNORC Center for Public AďŹ€airs Research showed that family caregivers now are providing 36 percent more care than a year ago, trying to keep their senior loved ones both safe and socially connectedâ€”this on top of working from home, and perhaps supervising their childrenâ€™s school days. â€œJuggling all these tasks can lead to whatâ€™s called caregiver burnout,â€? says Gregg Balbera, president of Right at Home Nassau SuďŹ€olk. â€œThis is a sense of exhaustion when a caregiver feels drained of time and energy, coupled with feelings of anxiety and guilt. Caregiver burnout can lead to serious depression, and raises the caregiverâ€™s own risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia and early death.â€? If you are a family caregiver, make caring for yourself a top goal. â€œRemember that if you donâ€™t take care of yourself, you will be a less eďŹ€ective caregiver for your loved one,â€? says Balbera. Balbera oďŹ€ers some great suggestions to add to your list of 2021 New Yearâ€™s resolutions: #1 â€œI will build some â€˜me timeâ€™ into my schedule.â€? Caregivers often tell themselves that they donâ€™t have time to do things they enjoy, to visit with friends, or just to relax for a while. But respite is vital so you can recharge your emotional batteries. #2 â€œIâ€™ll get enough exercise and eat a healthy diet.â€? Studies show family caregivers often neglect the basics of a healthy lifestyle. But you endanger your own health if you live on fast food and your lifestyle is busy, yet largely sedentary. #3 â€œIâ€™ll keep current with my own healthcare.â€? Though they might spend a great deal of time managing their loved oneâ€™s doctor appointments and medications, caregivers seldom have the same diligence about their own healthcare. When was your last checkup? Continued on Page 22 +Y 4HYSLUL 3 3L]` 7O+ 3*:> +((74 *VU[HJ[! &/,1,&$/ +<3126,6 36<&+27+(5$3< 7HOHWKHUDS\ RU ,1 3(5621 >LQGRRU RXWGRRU@ $Q[LHW\ 6WUHVV 0DQDJHPHQW 3DLQ 0DQDJHPHQW 5HODWLRQVKLS 7KHUDS\ ,QGLYLGXDO DQG )DPLO\ ,VVXHV &DOO 7HOHWKHUDS\ >=220@ RU ,Q 3HUVRQ $SSRLQWPHQW 35(6,'(17 )$&8/7< Âł7KH 1HZ