Top 10 Ways to Help a Family Caregiver: Tips from Rest.Stop.Ranch Founder Mary E. MacDonald

Top 10 Ways to Help a Family Caregiver

November is National Family Caregiver Month, and chances are you know a family member, friend, or neighbor who is caring for someone with a long-term illness like dementia. Here are the top 10 ways you can help a caregiver – not just in November, but year-round, recommended by Mary E. MacDonald of MaryMac Missions and Rest.Stop.Ranch in Topsfield, MA.

1. Validate the caregiver’s personal needs: physical, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, and financial. Do what you can to help the caregiver prioritize and take care of their own needs.

2. Encourage the caregiver to take regular breaks to rest, refresh, and recreate (this may mean getting out of the home, or simply having personal time to pursue a hobby they enjoy at home); support them by offering to stay with the loved one or by arranging for respite care.

3. Don’t let a caregiver do it all alone – encourage and help them to build a care-team, including other helpers (home healthcare aides, day health programs, etc.).

4. Listen. Sometimes the caregiver just needs a listening ear and an open heart.

5. Steer caregivers to available support programs (these may be held at different local venues or available by phone or online).

6. Consider donating just one hour a week or month to help out in a tangible way.

7. Encourage the caregiver to practice stress-reduction skills every day. These include deep breathing, meditation, vigorous and calming exercise, good nutrition, hobbies, and seeking out social support.

8. Bring them a favorite meal, or gift certificates for a favorite takeout place that delivers.

9. Help the caregiver to attend regular check-ins with medical and dental providers, by helping to coordinate respite care during these times.

10. Provide referrals to mental-health and medical professionals you know and respect.

Herself a survivor of a difficult dementia-care journey, Mary became a certified life coach, group leader, and Kripalu Yoga teacher, and founded MaryMac Missions and Rest.Stop.Ranch in 2010. Mary holds an M.A. degree in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Rochester with a B.A. degree in Psychology and German.

At Rest.Stop.Ranch, their Topsfield home, Mary E. MacDonald and Karl R. Ackerman offer two services for long-term-caregivers and people of all ages who are living with chronic illness and disability. One is a monthly Sunday Stroll and Memory Café in their wheelchair-accessible gardens (April - October), and the other is a two-hour Guided Individual Respite Retreat at the Caretaker’s Cottage (year-round, by appointment with Mary). The beautiful wheelchair-accessible gardens at Rest.Stop.Ranch provide a renewing environment for caregivers, care receivers, and survivors of long-term care. Every Memory Café event offers a multi-therapeutic approach, through horticulture, music, movement and art. Social, emotional, and spiritual support is available through interactions with specially trained staff and volunteers.

Contact: Mary E. MacDonald, 978-887-4202 or mary@marymacmissions.com or visit marymacmissions.com or http://rest-stop-ranch.com/.