Dealing With Grief and Loss as a Home Caregiver

Caregiving is an incredibly rewarding career. Very few professions allow a worker to make a real difference in someone’s life. Everyday, family caregivers and personal care assistants give of themselves to make life easier for another struggling with a physical or mental disability. While there is no better feeling than helping others in need, home caregiving also comes with many stressors and challenges. Aside from the daily physical stress of performing the variety of tasks that come with at home care, the mental stress of caregiver jobs is undoubtedly the hardest part.

Personal care assistants are forced to deal with grief as a result of loss in ways that most people will never know. Grief is most commonly associated with the death of a home care patient or loved one, however caregivers will likely be faced with other types of grief including:

• Ambiguous Loss: This occurs when someone is “there” but also not “there”. This is a result of a cognitive impairment, like dementia, in which a caregiver’s patient will slowly lose their memory and lucidity.
• Anticipatory Grief: Knowing that a disease or condition is terminal, a home caregiver may grieve the inevitable long before it comes. This is often accompanied by feelings of guilt or shame for thinking that the individual is already gone.
• Grieving at Death: Caregivers experience this type of grief far more often than most others. It’s an inevitable part of the job but one that should not be overlooked.

*Source: Caregiver.org

Dealing With Grief

Everyone deals with grief differently so it’s important for an individual to find what works best for him or her. Grief support for caregivers is especially important, as suffering can negatively impact his or hers home care services. Some effective methods for dealing with grief include:

• Read supportive and inspiration books
• Journal thoughts and feelings daily
• Seek support from family and friends
• Attend grief counseling groups

The home care professionals at Best Home Care understand the impact that grief can have on home caregivers and have helped many of our personal care assistants find support for their struggles. Contact Best Home Care to learn more about coping with grief.