Caregiving contingencies

See the DailyCaring article:
Coronavirus and Caregiver Mental Health: 8 Coping Tips 
http://www.feedspot.com/?dadi=1#feed/fof_fo_1345863__f_4798203/article/6029030843?dd=4311523042954340

1. Maintain a regular daily routine and healthy lifestyle
2. Improve sleep
3. Focus on what you can control and limit “what if” thinking
4. Give yourself a break
5. Plan for your older adult’s care in case you get sick
6. Take mini breaks throughout the day
7. Remember, you are not alone
8. Use humor to relieve tension

Each tip contains suggestions for how to accomplish the recommendations with additional links provided.    

I relate to #5 in particular.  Having a contingency plan for caregiving was something we overlooked when I took on the responsibility of being a fulltime caregiver for my mother-in-law.  Still in my 50’s at the onset, I was a healthy and energetic.  I did not foresee how the responsibility and the stress of escalating needs would take such a toll on my physical wellbeing. 

Undertaking a caregiving role is sometimes a very gradual process, but in the case of a crisis situation, it can be very sudden. In either case, caregiving responsibilities usually escalate as needs multiply over time. The less able our loved ones become, the greater their sense of independence lost. And as needs escalate, so does conflict. Caregivers sometimes begin by providing support in such areas as yard work or home repairs, followed by assistance with IADLs: telephone communication, housekeeping, laundry, food preparation, transportation, and managing medications and finances. Perhaps a greater sense of dependence involves the need for support with ADLs: bathing, dressing, grooming, ambulating, transferring, toileting, and feeding. The list of caregiving tasks grows and grows; the specifics are customized to each individual situation. When I was no longer able to care for my mother-in-law because of my knee replacement surgery, I wrote a job description for our nephew, which, in addition to the above-listed responsibilities, included the following tasks:
*Maintain an updated medical history to take to all doctor appointments
*Maintain hearing aids; help to put them in
*Manage oxygen
*Perform wound care
*Order medications, medical supplies, and equipment
*Order incontinence products
*Take to hair and nail appointments
*Provide opportunity for recreational activity
*Schedule and direct help—aides and hospice personnel

What to Do about Mama? p. 162

It is important not to make promises and commitments to the point that there is no way out.