Table of contents:
- Tips for taking care of yourself when caring for chronically ill people in the midst of a pandemic
- Maintain cleanliness
- Pay attention to health
- Break
- Manage stress
- Protects peace of mind
Maintaining one's own health, whether physical or psychological, is important when caring for a family member or someone who has a chronic illness. Without being supported by good health, your parenting ability can decrease. Therefore, if you are caring for someone with a chronic disease in the midst of a pandemic, see how to take care of yourself when caring for a sick person below.
Tips for taking care of yourself when caring for chronically ill people in the midst of a pandemic
Caring for someone does not mean spending time only with the person being cared for. However, you also have to make time for yourself.
Maintain cleanliness
Don't forget to keep yourself clean and the home environment. Clean hands before and after helping chronically ill people. Rinse hands using running water and soap for at least 20 seconds.
Also wash your hands when preparing food for someone being cared for, especially after you have urinated or defecated. Do not forget to clean your hands before going out and after returning home.
In short, personal hygiene and a maintained environment also decreases your risk of getting disease. You can also still carry out the responsibilities of caring for family members.
Pay attention to health
Caring for a chronically ill person not only helps the needs of the person being cared for, but also pays attention to one's own health. Taking care of yourself while caring for the sick in the midst of a pandemic is to pay attention to your own health.
Paying attention to health can be started from the food consumed, such as adopting a healthy diet that is rich in nutrients. Not only that, try not to skip your meals.
Then, stay fit by staying physically active. Do physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day to keep your body healthy for your daily activities.
Examples of physical activities that can be done are walking in the home environment. Given that there is a pandemic happening, when you are about to do physical activity outside the home, follow the recommended recommendations such as keeping a distance from other people.
Break
Adequate rest is a way to take care of yourself when caring for a sick person. Try to stay rested for at least 7 to 8 hours each day. Don't push yourself if you don't get enough rest.
Finding yourself tired is better than forcing yourself to constantly care for a sick family member. Therefore, don't hesitate to ask family members or others for help when you are tired.
Manage stress
When caring for chronically ill people, there are a number of their needs that you should help with. Doing daily activities for yourself is sometimes tiring, especially when it comes to helping care for people who are chronically ill, coupled with the situation in the midst of the current pandemic. Because of this, people in this position can feel stressed, but it is only natural.
The best way to take care of yourself when caring for a chronically ill person is to manage stress by engaging in activities that you enjoy. Maybe you can reminisce, like playing building blocks favorite in childhood first.
Then, watch a movie that you didn't have the chance to watch. In addition, you can also slowly complete chapter by chapter from a book that has long been "sitting" on a bookshelf while caring for your family members.
Protects peace of mind
Even though you have done stress management methods, sometimes the burden of your thoughts still weighs on you. The symptoms of stress alone can affect a person's health unconsciously.
Therefore, it is important for a caregiver to have a plan to protect peace of mind and self from illness. One way is to have health insurance, such as critical illness insurance.
As concluded from the study entitled Peace of Mind: Health Insurance Reduces Stress and Cortisol Levels - Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Kenya, having health insurance makes cortisol levels and stress levels decrease.
Researchers in the study argued that it was triggered by a calmer mind when having health insurance. Having health insurance is useful in protecting yourself from financial burdens when you experience illness. A calm mind and not stress also lowers the risk of disease that can haunt you.
In conclusion, taking care of family members when they are sick is not easy. Therefore, you still need to take care of yourself, especially your health when caring for chronically ill people in the midst of a pandemic. In addition to paying attention to your own health, protect yourself from stress by taking the time to let go of fatigue and maintain peace of mind.
