Right At Home promotes care for caregivers

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Caregivers work hard to care for our loved ones.

Right at Home in Home Care and Assistance is promoting care for their caregivers.

Caregivers can give too much and leave themselves with burnout.

Bryan Hensley the owner of Right at Home says, “Both professional caregivers and family caregivers find ways to take care of yourself. Take a little bit of me time. Caregivers are naturally very giving people and part of that danger is that they can give so much it leads to burnout.”

Right at home is promoting caregivers to take some extra time for themselves.

Hensley says, “It’s emotional support. We do emotional support groups. Sometimes the work we do can be emotional and mentally draining on people. It can also be physically draining, so we provide trainings so that we can continue raising our skills and having the tools in place to be safe.”

One caregiver for right at home believes in a little me time.

Melissa Heard is a CNA at Right at Home.

She says, “It’s very important to take care of ourselves or we will get rundown and you’ll get sick. It’s very important to do bubble baths, that’s my go to. Long showers, just take 10-15 minutes when you get home just for yourself.”

This kind of self care is extremely important to Heard.

“You have to make the time, you have to set out even if you put it on a schedule, you have to take the time. Whether it is to schedule a massage, go to the gym, go get your hair done, go get your nails done. Little things like that really add up,” says Heard.

Family caregivers are on the rise, which means these caring people have to take time to care for themselves.