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May is a special month for caregivers, as it recognizes the tireless efforts of those who devote themselves to caring for loved ones. Whether it is caring for an Autistic child or youth, an aging parent, or a family member with an illness, caregivers play a vital role in our lives and our communities. This National Caregivers Month, we aim to highlight the significance of self-care and the need for caregivers to prioritize their own well-being. 

Self-care offers caregivers an opportunity to recharge, rest, and attend to their own needs without compromising the quality of care for their loved ones. This break can be essential for maintaining the caregiver’s physical, emotional, and mental health. 

Benefits of Self-Care: 

1. Prevents Burnout: Caregiving can be physically and emotionally demanding. Self-care helps prevent burnout by encouraging caregivers to take time to rest and rejuvenate. 
2. Improves Care Quality: When caregivers are well-rested and less stressed, they can provide better care to their loved ones, enhancing overall well-being and quality of life. 
3. Promotes Healthy Relationships: Taking breaks allows caregivers to nurture relationships outside of their caregiving role, fostering social connections and support networks. 
4. Enhances Mental Health: Continuous caregiving without breaks can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and depression. Self-care provides a mental health boost by alleviating stress and promoting relaxation. 

While caregiving is a deeply rewarding experience, caregivers often prioritize the needs of their loved ones above their own, sometimes neglecting their own well-being in the process. It is important to remember that self-care is not selfish; it is a vital aspect of maintaining one’s health and resilience as a caregiver. 

Self-Care Tips for Caregivers: 

1. Prioritize Your Health: Attend regular medical check-ups, eat nutritious meals, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. Your well-being directly impacts your ability to care for others. 
2. Set Boundaries: Learn to say no when you are feeling overwhelmed. Establishing boundaries ensures that you do not overextend yourself and can maintain a healthy balance. 
3. Seek Support: Reach out to family, friends, or support groups for help. Kinark’s Parent/Caregiver Social Times, provide opportunities to connect with other caregivers of children with autism, and share experiences over coffee chats, paint nights, and more. 
4. Take Breaks: Make time to give yourself the break you need to recharge and focus on your well-being. 

Caregiver Wellness Packages 

Urgent Response Services (URS), a service provided by the York Simcoe Autism Network (YSAN), is a mediator focused, rapid response service that addresses a specific need to prevent further escalation of a child or youth harming themselves, others, or property. A large component of this service focuses on parent training and family supports. Services are provided to a wide number of families with various financial, cultural and disability needs. To improve client outcomes, clinicians often rely on caregivers to collect data, engage in treatment training, and continue ongoing implementation of suggested safety and behaviour strategies.  

With an understanding of how difficult it can be to make time for personal wellness while providing support to children with exceptionalities, the caregiver wellness packages were created. These packages are intended to provide meaningful training and support tools during service that aid caregivers in supporting their well-being and providing treatment support for their children.  

Each package includes a collection of parent/caregiver focused items, dependent on need and preference: 

• a notebook and pen for writing suggestions, notes, and thoughts  
• sensory tools like stress balls and sensory rings to support caregiver regulation 
• tea, coffee, and mugs for caregiver self-care and support 
• adult colouring books and motivational stickers for caregiver mindfulness 

By providing caregivers with tools and supports to focus on their own wellness and needs, these packages aim to allow them to provide better support to their children. Wellness Care Packages are now available to caregivers of children enrolled in the URS program who are accessing Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) support through Kinark. Packages are distributed according to assessed needs. 

“We want to support caregivers to be able to fill their cup first, to allow them to pour into others, in a meaningful way. Providing these packages benefits caregivers by providing a gentle reminder that they matter, and that family and meaningful support is at the centre of what we do,” says Hima De Silva, Behaviour Consultant with Urgent Response Services at Kinark Child and Family Services. 

Hima De Silva is a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) who earned a master’s degree in Applied Disability Studies from Brock University and has over six years of experience working with children, youth, adults, and families with complex needs.  Through her work and professional interests, Hima is dedicated to the advancement of highly collaborative supports to provide individualized, efficient, meaningful, and validating care to children, youth, and families. 

Stay tuned for more blogs in our “Celebrating Caregivers” series this May.