Family members who find themselves caring for a loved one – especially those caring for someone with a chronic health condition – often need to find ways to cope with the stress that comes along with the care they give.

A virtual workshop called Powerful Tools for Caregivers, sponsored by the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments, is designed especially to show caregivers how to care for themselves, according to Susan Tucker, evidence-based health care coordinator for Kerr-Tar COG. She and Austin Caton, family caregiver support specialist, spoke with John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk about the workshop and some suggestions and strategies it offers.

The first of the 6-session workshops will be on Tuesday, April 20, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. A second 6-session workshop begins on Tuesday, May 6, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Contact Tucker at 252.436.2040 to learn more or sign up for the class.

It’s different if you’re caring for someone with the flu or a broken leg, which are short-term conditions – there’s an end in sight. The flu will run its course, the broken leg will mend. But someone caring for a family member – unusually unpaid – must deal with extra challenges.

Tucker said the workshop is for “anyone who is providing care for a chronically ill loved one. No matter how that takes shape – whether it’s a child caring for an aging parent or whether it’s a parent caring for their disabled child.” She said many family members often provide unpaid care, and this workshop will offer strategies that support the well-being – physical and mental – of the person who provides the care.

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Caton said previous participants have appreciated learning techniques to reduce stress and anxiety, as well as learning about how caregiving stresses the body.

“One of the unique things about this program is geared toward the caregiver, but it’s not just a checklist,” he said. Participants receive concrete strategies to implement to “alleviate some of these symptoms, both physically and mentally.”

As a caregiver herself, Tucker said the class was recommended to her. She completed the class and said she was eager to share it with others who found themselves in a similar situation. All caregivers get overwhelmed at one point or another, she said, and that’s when they reach out for help. “Don’t wait until you’re at the end of your rope,” she said. The Powerful Tools class can help prevent that from happening, she said. “It’s not just the what to do, it’s the how to do it.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Caton would visit homes, conduct assessments and provide support to caregivers who had questions about everything from dementia support groups and mobility issues to navigating Medicaid and locating other resources to help the family member being cared for.

But there is little information about just exactly how a caregiver is supposed to take care of himself or herself, Tucker said. This class will guide participants through the process of learning how to provide self-care while being a caregiver to someone else.

“This class is about you, caregivers. It’s not about what you have to do, it’s not about the person you’re caring for, it’s all about you. There aren’t many things out there for us caregivers that feel that way, but this one feels that way because it IS that way,” Tucker said.