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Caregivers for the elderly fulfill a meaningful yet challenging role of making the lives of our vulnerable loved ones better. Hence, we must ensure they know that they’re appreciated.
Complimenting caregivers for the elderly come in various forms. It could be simply giving them a nod or smile of approval, articulating how they make life easier for you and your loved ones, or even providing items that can make their life and work easier.
There are infinite ways to show caregivers that you appreciate their service. If you’re looking for ways to express gratitude, you just found the right article.
1. Give the Caregiver a Smile or Nod of Approval
A simple smile or nod of approval can work wonders in boosting a caregiver’s confidence in their work. While this isn’t as direct as articulating how you appreciate their work, non-verbal communication can be a means to show sincerity through actions alone.
If you see them doing their daily tasks, such as combing your loved ones’ hair, engaging them in conversations, or helping them have a nice meal, giving them a kind smile is enough to send a message that you appreciate what they do.
Smiles are contagious; chances are you’d also put a smile on their face that way.
Words of appreciation are good, but candid gestures that show how you feel about them and their work in real-time can mean just as much, if not more. After all, it’s easier to utter nice phrases than show how you feel toward a person.
So whenever you visit your aging loved ones, always give their caregivers a warm smile. Remember that they, too, are humans with just as human emotions as you do. Knowing that someone notices and values their work will help them stay consistent and motivated in their service.
2. Tell Your Caregiver That You Notice the Small Details
Another way to compliment caregivers is to let them know you see even the tiny details in how they care for your loved ones. You may notice they make sure the room is always squeaky clean; perhaps you see how they make your folks laugh or calmly handle their meltdowns.
The type of care necessary varies from individual to individual. Caregivers add extra value to their services by personalizing how they approach patients to make them happy and comfortable. They do this by considering the minor details in their patients‘ personalities.
Imagine how effective a compliment would be if you had it personalized. You may think it takes a great deal of time and effort to do such a thing, but it’s not necessarily the case.
There is always something unique in how each person executes their job. So if you’re intent on giving a sincere compliment, explore what you love about their service.
It could be that they handle high-pressure situations exceptionally well. They could be particularly thorough in preparing food your folks would like.
Or perhaps their personality jives with that of their patient, and you believe it makes your family member feel much better. Noticing these specific details would be an effective way to give a compliment.
3. Allow Your Caregiver Additional Breaks
Giving compliments without actions to back them up may be futile. And what better way to express how much you appreciate their hard work than giving them additional time off?
Caregivers may have regular days off but feel exhausted when required to offer their services. Hence, giving them time off on top of what you’ve both agreed can be a much-needed breather.
Of course, I know it’s a given that we hire caregivers because we may not have the time and capacity to give focused attention to our aging loved ones at all times.
But if you figured you’d be able to spend time with your elderly family member without needing their caregiver’s help, allowing the latter to take a break for the time being sends a message that you know they’ve worked hard enough to earn an extra time off.
Imagine working on a project all week long, and by Friday, your boss tells you to come back Tuesday and enjoy a 3-day weekend or perhaps call it a day by lunch. They don’t need to explain that you did such an excellent job on the project anymore (although chances are they’d still tell you that). These gestures show that the best compliment you can give is through appreciative actions.
Giving additional breaks after difficult days or weeks would also let them know that you saw how hard they worked. This gesture also says you appreciate them enough to give them time to recover—one of the best compliments ever. It wouldn’t always be easy to make this gesture, but that’s precisely why this list of how to compliment caregivers continues!
4. Give the Caregiver “Thank You” Presents
Surprise presents can be an excellent way to compliment caregivers and tell them that you value their work. Although they will appreciate a “thank you” card—chances are, the best presents are the ones that’d be most helpful for them in their daily lives.
Treating them to a cup of coffee or a lovely meal would give them a dopamine boost. Another type of present could also come in gift checks so they’d be free to choose whatever they like.
In many cases, caregiving requires them to be on call 24 hours. These heavy hours only mean they barely have time to pause and think about themselves. An excellent way to compliment their hard work would be to give them products that address some aspects of their much-needed self-care.
For instance, this Niuonsix heating pad for the neck and shoulders can be a helpful self-care product to help them relax after a long day’s work. The product is available on Amazon, so you wouldn’t have to worry about dropping by a physical shop.
This heating pad can soothe and relax aching muscles and help the user relieve tension. They can also set it to automatically turn off after a certain period so they can fall asleep while enjoying the weight and warmth of this product.
Such a simple gesture shows that while providing care, their hard work has also been impactful enough for you to care for them.
While you’re making it easier for them to relax, consider buying them scented candles to help them take some relaxing me-time. Andaluca’s Cashmere Oak Scented Candle (available on Amazon.com) guarantees roughly 40 hours of use, so one of these every one to two months would likely suffice.
Compliments come in different forms, and thoughtful gifts like the ones mentioned above are definitely among the foolproof ways to express genuine appreciation.
5. Ask How Your Loved One’s Caregiver Is Doing
Working on delicate tasks can be challenging. After a long day at work, if your boss or co-worker asks how you feel, it can be a validating experience. It could mean they see how much effort you’ve exerted and are worried you might be stressed.
Yup, there goes another indirect way of giving compliments.
There will be some days when you know it’s been extra challenging for your family’s caregiver. Or perhaps, you saw how hard and passionate they’ve been at their job that you worry they haven’t had time to care for themselves.
Asking how they’re doing allows them to take a break from constantly thinking about their patients. It requires some self-reflection to answer such a question and, perhaps, some self-care to be back on track in case they aren’t doing well.
6. Ask How You Can Make Your Caregivers’ Job Easier
Caregivers experience high-stress levels from their jobs’ emotional and physical tolls. If you see how hard your caregivers work and worry they may be overexerting, it’s best to ask if there’s anything you can do to make their job easier. This request indirectly tells them you see them and know what they do is difficult. It’s also comforting for them to see that you’re there to help. Knowing they’re not alone makes their job less daunting.
This gesture may mean buying products that’ll help them finish tasks faster. Sometimes, they may be too shy to ask for new cleaning materials; perhaps, an extra set of towels would give them some leeway instead of washing the soiled ones as soon as they get dirty.
Since caregivers usually have their daily schedules packed with tasks, saving whatever little time can be a game-changer.
You can be proactive in purchasing items that will make their job less heavy, but asking them will also make it easier. In any case, they’d know what they need best as it’s them on the frontline, providing your family member the best care.
7. Bond With Your Loved One’s Caregiver
Caregivers for the elderly spend most of their waking hours caring for aging loved ones, meaning they do not get to spend much time connecting with adults their age. As such, allocating time to bond with your loved one’s caregiver can help relieve bouts of loneliness they may experience.
While gifts can make them feel rewarded for their service, spending your time talking with your caregiver can make them feel like somebody cares.
Bonding is also an opportunity to continuously build trust between you, which grants you a sense of security and confidence that you can’t get from standard background checks.
You could ask them what food they like and take them to a nice restaurant. Another option would be to order food for both of you and share a meal while talking about lighthearted topics.
Lastly, if you are into cooking, you can also cook for them if you get the time. One of the excellent ways to compliment caregivers is to tell them they deserve to receive as much gentleness and care as they’ve been giving.
While all these examples involve food in one way or another, the main goal is to develop a connection with your carer. It’s easier for them to know how you feel about their work—and it so happens that conversations go excellently with good food!
Feel free to personalize your bonding experience, of course.
8. Be Generous With Your Words of Affirmation
There will be highly challenging moments throughout their time with their patients. They may even wonder if they are doing enough for their client—or whether you appreciate their efforts.
For this reason, you need to be generous with your words of affirmation to your caregivers.
As much as caregiving is fulfilling, it can get mentally and physically taxing. When stress levels are through the roof, even experienced professionals can second-guess the value of their services.
Times will be extra challenging when their clients are sick and are not getting better. During these times, caregivers will exert extra effort to provide them with holistic care.
Know, too, that these will be the very times they might question their ability to deliver value through their services. After all, there are no rigid metrics to assess whether they’ve been doing well or are falling behind.
In addition, it will be difficult to see things rationally when under a lot of stress, so openly telling them they’re doing a great job can work wonders in bringing them back on track.
9. Say Thank You
Lastly, the simplest yet most straightforward way of complimenting your family caregiver is giving them a heartfelt “thank you.”
Telling them they did a good job is one thing, but a sincere thank you could also mean the same. This gesture may sound too plain, but we don’t always have to look far and wide for ways to let them know their work is valued.
Expressing and experiencing gratitude can affect us considerably—releasing the feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. Not only will your caregiver feel better, but you will also receive the same neurological benefits by expressing gratitude.
A study found that nurses who received appreciation were less likely to be absent from work and more likely to influence those around them in a positive manner.
A good relationship between seniors and caregivers affects the elderly’s mental stimulation positively. I recommend reading my guide, where I talked about how your parents and caregivers can work together. 8 Ways That Parents and Caregivers Work Together
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