Caring for others leads to “caregiver burnout” and “compassion fatigue.” This is no surprise. Caregivers are subjected to messages that permeate this message – that burnout and low levels of well-being are potential costs to being a caregiver. Many do not know how to prioritize their personal heath and well-being. Caregiver burnout and other costs associated with being a caregiver are real but measuring the caregiving experience from this lens is a recipe for undue increased negativity and low levels of well-being that further contribute to burnout. Industry education does not yet teach well-being skills and implementation at a personal or organizational level.

At a personal level well-being is more than self care. It is about using the right tools at the right time and having the awareness to know what you need, when you need it. What is possible, when, is an assessment skill necessary to prioritize individual well-being while caring for others. Whether you have thirty seconds or the rarely found thirty minutes, you need to be equipped with the best tool for the moment(s). Mindfulness is handy when you have more time. A quick body response like smiling or laughing is more appropriate when you have seconds.

When you try to bring about mindfulness when you do not have time, it’s like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole – it’s plain frustration! Using the wrong tools at the wrong times can lead to feeling burnt out, tired and wasted.

At an organizational level we need individual approaches that work together to harness organizational values to provide the best possible service in relationship with those we serve. If organizational well-being was a garden of fruits and vegetables, you need all sorts to cultivate the proper vitamin and mineral components to serve your clients. Each person in your organization is best equipped to plant, grow and harvest certain items that ultimately contribute to the harvest that best serves your clients. You need your organizational values to be visible, flourishing and active – you need your people to be make that happen.

And equipping people is just what we set out to do! Introducing The Caregiver Toolkit.

The Caregiver Toolkit was developed to increase caregiver well-being – to help bring the harvest to the people you serve. It is a unique program for caregivers to learn about well-being tools from the field of positive psychology and apply them in ways that make sense, produce results, and make the best use of time. Caregiving with well-being in mind means we focus on the rewards and pay attention to compassion satisfaction (Hansen, Eklund, et al. (2018) . We like to use the phrase, Take Care and Give Care to help shift the focus and direction of caregiver well-being.

Consider Jo. Jo is a professional caregiver. He is caring and genuine, and, like many, becoming a caregiver was his calling. He is intrinsically motivated and yet he struggles to find time for himself and he is often drained of energy. Working with Jo was fun and heartfelt. Although a bit shy and reserved, he was willing to incorporate savouring into his daily routine. Because Jo loved music, playing the guitar and singing we asked him to bring an added level of awareness to those moments with his client. We asked him to intentionally savour and we gave him a visual reminder as a cue. After two weeks, Jo was noticing more moments that increased his energy and he was connecting with his client in ways he never had before. His intrinsic reward centre was flowing again. He found more time for himself and when I checked in with him four months later, he was learning to play the violin.

Many caregivers in organizations can relate to Jo. He is amazing at what he does, he chose his profession to make a difference in someone’s life. Jo learned one way he could personalize one tool and it made a difference for him so he could continue making a difference for others. He is better equipped to take the organizational values and put them into action. He is adding to the harvest.

Sources:
Eric M. Hansen, Jakob Håkansson Eklund, Anna Hallén, Carmen Stockman Bjurhager, Emil Norrström, Adam Viman & Eric L. Stocks (2018) Does Feeling Empathy Lead to Compassion Fatigue or Compassion Satisfaction? The Role of Time Perspective, The Journal of Psychology, 152:8, 630-645, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2018.1495170