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HEART DISEASE AND HEART EVENTS
Know that You Can Make a Difference AM I EXPERIENCING
After treatment, every heart patient receives recovery information about diet, CAREGIVER BURNOUT?
exercise, medication, and activities. One essential role is to sift through that
information so that instructions are understood and followed. WebMD writes about a syndrome
called caregiver burnout, which
Part of this process is having an honest conversation about changes in describes a type of fatigue and
responsibilities and roles in your household regarding budgets, chores, child even depression that can set in
care, and other tasks. Together, talking about solutions to potential problems among caregivers. Those who
can help you manage well as a family. are burned out are not the most
effective caregivers and can run
Look Ahead the risk of experiencing serious
Every family has its own way of handling a heart diagnosis and the recovery health issues themselves.
process. Each family has its own support system. For many, it helps to think
positively and not assume or assign blame for anyone’s heart condition. If Learn more about the symptoms
possible, accompany the patient during health care office visits—together, you and strategies for overcoming
will learn and hear more. Write down your questions in advance. If you plan well burnout at www.webmd.com/
and look forward to the future with confidence, you’ll get through it, together. heart-disease/heart-disease-
recognizing-caregiver-burnout.
10 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CAREGIVING
BE INVOLVED:
1. Talk to other caregivers at a Mended Hearts support meeting. QUESTIONS FOR YOUR
2. Stay healthy. HEALTH CARE TEAM
3. Accept offers of help and suggest ways people can help you. ABOUT CAREGIVING
4. Start a journal and write down questions for your health care team.
5. Take breaks. What are the most important
6. Watch for signs of depression. things I can do to support
7. Be open to using technology to help you care for your loved one. my loved one’s recovery?
8. Organize care documents.
9. Get legal documents in order. What should I expect to
10. Thank yourself for doing a challenging job well. happen in the weeks and
From the Caregiver Action Network at months ahead?
www.caregiveraction.org/resources/ten-tips.
What appointments will
need to be scheduled?
What if I become stressed
out or lost? What support is
available to me?
I feel so isolated and that
no one understands what
I’m going through. Where
do I turn?
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