Building Resilience

Many of us do not anticipate adopting the role of caregiver, and it is not a job that comes with pre-programmed days off—we have to map out self-care time and respite for ourselves while seeing to it that our care recipient is still being looked after. A family caregiver’s role also spans an average of six years, providing an average of 11 hours of care per week (during which time they are also managing other competing demands in their lives: work, school, children, et cetera). If you are reading this then chances are you are partaking in the “marathon” of caregiving. The feeling of stress that caregivers describe about time and money, as well as being physically and emotionally tired and overwhelmed with no time for themselves on a day to day basis is described as “caregiver burden.” So, how does one lessen the caregiver burden? Like any successful marathon, the key to making it across the finish line is pacing oneself—what we like to refer to as a caregiver’s resilience. Resilience helps make the harder parts of the caregiving more doable, and in this Flipbook we will detail what caregiving resilience is and draw upon real-life examples. We will also outline the dimensions of resilience using a Venn diagram, which encompasses the four discuss strategies to build your personal resilience and provide you with a list of resources areas that make up the state of being resilient: emotional, physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Furthermore, we will provide suggestions for strategies to build your personal resilience, including cultivating a positive outlook (and tips for how to do so), reframing your stressful experiences, creating a network of connections, nurturing your inner superhero, making friends with reality, reminding yourself of where your moral compass points, prioritizing your physical well-being and creating meaning in your caregiving role.