Self-Care Plan
Self-care is essential to be able to care for others but difficult to carve out time for. We know that caregivers make huge commitments to loved ones in many different ways and can often feel overwhelmed, burnt-out or spread thin. Taking care of yourself can help you to feel the positives of caregiving, such as reward and deeper connection.
Think about it like this: You are informed on a plane that you are supposed to put your own breathing mask on before assisting others. The same can be true for caregiving. Without taking care of yourself, it is harder to give care to others. Furthermore, just as you schedule medical appointments and plan foryour care recipient, you can use this tool to help you schedule time for yourself.
Use these categories to help you brainstorm different ways to plan for your own self-care: Leisure time, exercise/sports, hobbies, keepappointments, meditation, social activities, spirituality, support groups, other. These categories are for brainstorming purposes and are not meant to limit your care plan.
What has meaning to you?
Starting a new routine or self-care plan can be tricky. Thinking about things that are meaningful can help you balance what is good for you and what is good to you. Try to identify things that sustain you and integrate them into your self-care plan so that you can stay motivated to make positive commitments to your health!
Think of a time in your life when you felt joy. What were you doing?
Think of a time when you felt a sense of purpose. What were you doing?
When do you find yourself losing track of time?
Emotional Health
Emotional health has many parts such as emotional awareness, emotional control, strong relationships, and self-confidence, being able to handle difficult situations and recover from them. Simply put, it is important to build awareness of your emotions and appropriate reactions to emotional distress.
Emotional Awareness
Sometimes we are taught to avoid certain emotions and show others emotions more than we do. However, it is healthy to feel a range of emotions. It is what we do once we have an emotion that is important to look at.
Do you find yourself avoiding certain emotions? If yes, what emotions do you avoid? ______
Do you ever feel guilty because of a certain emotion you experience?
______
Self-Confidence
Can you think of a time where you had confidence in yourself? ______
Dealing with Challenges
What types of events have been most difficult for you in the past?______
How does dealing with something difficult affect you?______
Think about a time you went through something challenging. What helped you get through it? ______
Bouncing Back
Think about an obstacle you have overcome. ______
Think about a time where you had hope for the future. What helped to give you hope? ______
Stress Reduction Plan
As you know, caregiving can bring feelings of stress, which can affect your physical and emotional health. Each person feels and deals with stress differently. It is important to be able to recognize stress and have a plan to cope. If you able to recognize what stress feels like you can remove yourself from the situation sooner and enable coping mechanisms.
Feeling Stress in Your Body
Identify what your body feels like when you get stressed (i.e. tightness, clouded, etc.)? ______
How could you alleviate some of these feelings in your body? ______
When do you feel most stressed?
______
Can you avoid these situations?______
When do you feel the least stressed? ______
Can you spend more time doing these activities? ______
Breaking Down Your Stress
What would resolve your stress (think big picture)? ______
Is it possible? ______
How could you reduce your stress? ______
Is it possible? ______
Think of one thing you can do this week to help reduce your stress: ______
Physical Health
A combination of a nutrition (70%) and exercise (30%) is important to build and sustain physical health.
Hydration
Your body is made up more than half water. It is important to replenish your supply of fluid often. You lose water especially in warm weather, during exercise, when you are ill. It is recommended that you drink around 8 8-oz glasses of water a day.
Tips for staying hydrated
Carry a water bottle with you
Add a lemon slice to water to improve taste
Drink water before and after you exercise
Drink a glass of water before each meal
Order a water when out to eat (Saves you money, too!)
Eating
What do you eat during a typical day? ______
Use MyPlate.gov to help you brainstorm three balanced meals that you would enjoy. On this website, you can explore calories, types of food for each category, healthy recipes and much more!
Breakfast: ______
Lunch: ______
Dinner: ______
Would you like to attend a congregate meal site? Yes _____ No ______
Would you like to receive HESSCO meals? Yes _____ No ______
Would you like a HESSCO Dietician referral? Yes_____ No_____
Would you like more information on a particular topic (i.e. sodium, cholesterol, fiber, weight loss, weight gain, etc.) Yes _____ No ______If yes, what? ______
Exercising
Exercise does not have to be a huge chunk of your day. Taking a 15 minute walk every day may be easier than going to the gym for an hour multiple times a week. Find a schedule and activity that is realistic and enjoyable for you and it will be much more likely that you keep it up!
Think about a time you were active and/or exercised. Did you enjoy it? ______
Is there an activity or exercise you have always wanted to try? If yes, what is it? ______
Would you rather exercise every day for small amount of time or schedule a few longer workouts a few times a week? ______
Social Health
It is important to have a healthy relationship with yourself, others and your community, which means finding a balance in your social, personal and caregiving time. Some skills that are helpful to find balance include being able to assert yourself, your needs and your boundaries in a respectful way. Another aspect of social health is developing and maintaining a support network of family, friends and/or community. Social health will look different for each and every person and should include some elements of fun and comfort for you.
Healthy Re-charge
Do you re-charge by being around others or spending time by yourself?
Finding a Balance
Break down your social time (including time by yourself) by percentage.
Caregiving ______Time with Friends/Family/Pets______Time with Co-Workers______Time by yourself______Other______
Are there any percentages you would like to adjust?
Community Engagement
Have you been involved in your community in the past or present?
Have you been a part of a community in the past that you would like to reconnect with?
Support Network
Do you feel you can go to anyone if you have a problem?
Having Fun
Can you think of a time in your life where you had fun?
What makes you laugh?
Boundaries
If someone asks you to do something and it is too much, how do you handle this situation?
Do you change the way you act when you are around certain people?
Brain Health
Your brain is actually a muscle – the more you use and challenge it, the stronger it is. Brain health can include but is not limited to trying new activities, critical thinking, prioritizing, and time management skills. These skills can important to your own health and also help you with caregiving.
Try Something New
Is there anything that you have always wanted to try?
Is there an interest you had a while ago that you would like to pick back up?
Time Management
Do you find yourself forgetting to do important things for yourself or your care recipient?
Do you ever feel like there isn’t enough time in the day?
If you have a list of 10 things to do, how do you establish what is most important to get done?
Exposure to New Ideas and Different View Points
Do you feel as though you are up to date with what is going on in the world?
Are you interested in learning about new technology and/or trends?
Know Your Values
Do you have a belief system or set of values?
Do you feel as though you follow these values or beliefs closely?
Other
Is there another area of your life that you could develop a plan for? These areas may include spiritual, occupational, financial health or something else entirely.
______
Goal Setting
Use the information above to help yourself set three goals to improve self-care. Try to identify how many areas of health you will affect through one goal. You may start to notice that many of these areas overlap and you can positively affect your health in multiple ways by setting one goal.
Example Goal: Barbara made a goal to walk her dogthree times a week and as needed when she starts to feel stressed.
Areas of Health that this goal impacts:PHYSICAL HEALTH because she is walking, PERSONAL MEANING because her dog gives her joy, STRESS REDUCTION because when her chest gets tight (sign of stress), being around her dog makes her feel better, EMOTIONAL HEALTH because my dog makes her happy and helps her get through tough times, and SOCIAL HEALTH because her dog provides companionship.
Now, it’s your turn!
Goal 1:______
Areas of health goal impacts: ______
Goal 2:______
Areas of health goal impacts:
______
Goal 3:
______
Areas of health goal impacts:
______