2023 Goals

Hey hey Caregivers,

With just a couple of days left in 2022, I wanted to chat about plans for change in the new year. While this could be vision planning or goal setting or resolutions, I think the most important aspect of it is understanding the impact it will have on your quality of life. I think there is so much value in reflecting on areas of growth for ourselves and also for those we support. As you reflect on what areas you want yourself to grow in this upcoming year and also what areas you want to support your care recipient for growth in this year, I wanted to share a little list with ideas of goals for caregivers and care recipients to help with any feelings of being stuck or of not being sure where to even begin.

As you’re working on developing and meeting your goals this upcoming year, I pray your year would be marked my increases in peace and joy.

Goals for Caregivers:

1.  Meal prep some freezer meals so you always have a quick and nutritious meal that is ready to go after a chaotic day. Eating well will help you bounce back better the next day

2.  Make time for you to have some quiet time each day. Spending time journaling, praying, and/or meditating is so beneficial for not only reducing stress but also reducing the impact stress has on our bodies. By starting with taking five minutes before bed to journal, pray, or meditate, you can be setting yourself up for a better day tomorrow. I know I always feel more rested and find myself in a better mood when I make time for some quiet time the evening before.

3.  Accept help and say no to things. I know it can be so hard as caregivers to accept help from others. But it will bless you, your care recipient, and those you are allowing to serve you by accepting their help. Maybe accepting help, looks like using respite services, day program options, house cleaning services, or having a friend come over and help, or even just inviting them into the chaos is a great place to break down isolation too. Or maybe, you're just way too overscheduled and one of the best goals you can keep this year is to say no to things.

Goals to support your care recipient:

If you're struggling to come up with goals for your care recipient, take heart, there are a multitude of extra challenges and thoughts that often pop up when we think about this. Thoughts like, "What is actually achievable for my care recipient?" Or "Am I being selfish for wanting this one area to change?” I want to remind you that wanting growth for others is a good thing. I believe we are best honoring our care recipient's when we support them in growing and developing. If you're finding that you are stuck with what things to think about, I have found the most helpful questions to figure out first are:

• What is the biggest hindrance to their quality of life?

• Some ideas: incontinence, sensory overload, behaviors, difficulties moving around

• What are the most helpful things to their quality of life?

• Some ideas: spending time with family, going on car rides, spending time in the community, having a quiet space to relax

• Have there been any significant changes when I think about their life a year ago compared to now?

• Many times, changes don’t take place overnight and for us as caregivers, while we know our care recipient(s) the best, we may miss that things are changing or deteriorating. Taking the time to pause and reflect back on the past year (or more), you may notice some changes that have happened, that could be very beneficial for you to discuss with your care recipient’s healthcare team.

• What are the most challenging aspects of providing care for this person?

• Some ideas: mobility needs (transferring into/out of bed or their wheelchair), medication management (many medications to give and having many times they need to be given each day), or lack of sleep due to caregiving needs overnight or fear that something may happen overnight.

As you come up with goals to help support your care recipient(s) this year, the challenges of determining what the goal(s) should be may pale in comparison to the challenges of figuring out how to work towards meeting the specific goal. If the goals you are coming up with are related to their daily care needs and you’re not sure how you can start making these areas of their life better (or if you are feeling overwhelmed/consumed by their care needs), I would strongly encourage you to share this goal or overwhelming requirements of their care to someone on their medical team. Talking with their doctor about pill/medication burden can start the process of figuring out how to make medication adherence more manageable. Additionally, if you are having a hard time with behaviors, figuring out successful routines, sensory challenges, medication management, and care needs, seeing an occupational therapist can help you figure these things out [In January, I’ll be sharing a story about how one of my care recipients was struggling with behaviors and they ended up being referred to occupational therapy and after integrating a few new sensory things into her daily routine, their behaviors decreased significantly and her quality of life improved drastically]. There are so many options and resources available, I know it can be so overwhelming to try and figure out what to do next, reaching out to your care recipient’s medical team or case manager (for respite or community participation ideas) can be a great place to start.

I hope you enjoy this list and don't forget to leave a comment with some of your goal ideas OR great resources for reaching some goals!

The best is yet to come!

<3 Rebecca