Self-Care for Carers
Supporting yourself while caring for someone with advanced disease
Key points
- Caring for someone with a life-limiting disease can be very challenging.
- About half of carers report high levels of distress.
- Caring for yourself is one of the best ways to care for others.
- Self-care is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.
What is self-care?
Self-care is what we do to maintain balance and resilience in our lives. It is a proactive and holistic approach to promoting personal health and wellbeing, enabling you to continue caring for others while protecting your own self. In fact, effective self-care strategies are vital for coping with stress, reducing emotional distress, and preventing compassion fatigue and burnout.
If you are caring for someone with liver disease, self-care is important for you.
Why self-care is essential
Caring for someone is a profound act of love, but it can also be complicated and challenging. The intensity of the situation can impact your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.
If you are caring for someone with a life-limiting condition, you might have:
• trouble sleeping
• worse anxiety
• feelings of worry
• changing social connections – friends visit less often
• less time for hobbies.
All these factors can affect not only you but also your family dynamics.
About half of those caring for someone with an advanced life limiting condition report high levels of distress, which can make it much harder to function as normal.
It’s very important to look after yourself so you can continue to care someone else. It’s like a parent in a plane – you put on your own oxygen mask first so you can help your child.
Self-care strengthens resilience, enabling carers to flourish personally, even in the face of significant challenges.
Practical self-care tips
Developing a personalised self-care plan can help you maintain balance and manage stress. Here are some suggestions:
- Prioritise your health: Make time for regular exercise, eat nutritious meals, and get enough sleep. Commit to your own regular health checks.
- Stay connected: Reach out to friends, family, or support groups. Sharing your experiences can ease feelings of isolation.
- Set boundaries: Communicate your needs and limits. It’s okay to ask for help or delegate tasks.
- Engage in activities you enjoy: Whether it’s reading, gardening, or listening to music, do things that bring you joy and relaxation.
- Practise mindfulness: Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, or yoga can help reduce stress and improve focus.
Support and resources
You don’t have to be on this journey alone. Many resources are available to help you develop a self-care plan and access emotional and practical support:
- Self-Care Plan: CarerHelp Self-Care Plan
- Common Emotions factsheet: Common Emotions at the End of Life
- Palliative Caring: a state or territory specific Resource
- Carer Gateway: Emotional and Practical Services
The HELP App
The Healthy End of Life Planning (HELP) App provides a comprehensive framework for care, connecting patients, carers, and health professionals with social and community support.
The HELP App highlights the common things that people and their families need to maintain their social connections while living with chronic and terminal illness. It gives carers and families control to guide those wonderful people that want to help but don’t know what you need.
It might be help with walking the dog every day, mowing the lawn, getting the kids to sport. These social networks can create and solidify bonds to last a lifetime for the family.
Learn more about the free HELP App here.
Self-care is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.
By looking after your own health and wellbeing, you’ll be better equipped to care for your loved one while preserving your own resilience and happiness.
Caring for yourself is one of the best ways to care for others.