Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[CherryBomb]

Only another 15 minutes. Now is the time to put forward any final thoughts, perspectives and ideas. 

[Murphy]

Heartfelt thanks to everyone tonight, to share your story takes a lot of courage. Your wisdom and knowledge has assisted me and your courage has inspired me. It can be such a hard journey, yet one that can be travelled.....when supported along the way. Wishing you all the best for the future and may we all be much kinder to ourselves. 🙂

[MIFSAsupport]

@CherryBomb just wanted to chat quickly about the "Stages of Change" model, some of you will be familiar with it. It is a great tool to use when trying to impliment change in behaviour. Google it.

https://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-change/

A behaviour is usually called 'difficult' when it appears resistant to change, despite the carer offering encouragement, support, prompting, telling and becoming angry with the person.

Lack of motivation may be the obvious reason for some behaviours - however, it underpins making changes to any behaviour.

Motivational techniques can be helpful in moving a person towards change. For motivational techniques to be effective, we need to have an appreciation and understanding of the stage of change the person is at. Professionals often refer to a Stages of Change Model, to determine where an individual is in relation to the potential for behaviour change.

[Shaz51]

Thankyou @CherryBomb, @MIFSAsupport, @Murphy, @Suzi, @CARING4CARERS, for a very interesting night

[MIFSAsupport]

@Murphy I agree, well said.

Self care is vital, fill your own cup first. Especially when you hear the stats around carers becoming unwell. 

Find something you enjoy doing and make time to do it often. Remember to have a laugh.

[CherryBomb]

@MIFSAsupport yes! that is a great tool. I find it useful to look at where we (as carers) may be, in comparison to our loved one. It's quite common to see that carers are ready for loved to take action, but their loved might be pre-comtemplative. This understanding helps to see where change can come from - ourselves. 

[CherryBomb]

And that's a wrap! A big BIG thank you to @MIFSAsupport for your wisdom tonight, and of course our members, who make Topic Tuesday what it is. 

Speaking of self care, stick around and have a (virtual) cuppa and bikkie in this thread. It's basically an online space, where carers can unwind and chat amongst themselves. Might see you there!