Hello Team,

In the seven years of running Guided Living, this is one of the messages that has made me the happiest to write. Starting on April 11, the pay rate for all shifts will be increased to $20.35 and we will be establishing “shift insurance.” Here’s why and what it all means.

This past year has made a lot of us think about our future and I’ve been spending much of this time reflecting on what the next seven years will look like for our team and Guided Living. We have always strived to offer the highest level of care. That means providing excellent communication, Registered Nurse oversight, consistency and reliability of care staff that many other agencies have lost, and committing to do everything in our power to make sure our care team, clients, and everyone’s families are as safe as possible. As an organization, we always go the extra mile to provide our highest quality of care and safety. Without any doubt, Guided Living’s premium level of care is because of you and our entire caregiver team. It is you that makes us exceptional and allows us to bring the highest level of service to our clients. 

To ensure that over the next seven years and beyond we continue to deliver this high-quality care by an extraordinary team, I have decided that Guided Living must care for our caregivers in the way you have cared for this team and our families. So, starting on April 11, the pay rate for all shifts will be increased to $20.35. We will also start a new benefit for caregivers called “shift insurance.” This means that if your shift is cancelled within 24 hours of the start time and we are unable to reschedule those hours, you will be paid the full amount that you were originally expecting.

I feel so lucky to work with you and every member of our team. Since day one, the mission of our company has been to provide the highest level of in-home care to seniors. This has never been clearer to me than seeing how you all have handled the last 12 months of the pandemic. I appreciate you, as do our clients and their families very much.

Thank you for everything you do, and here’s to the next seven years!

Patrick

While we’re enduring the losses, threats, and deprivations of the pandemic and the disturbance and challenges of political division and a necessary reckoning with racism, we can embrace this time of trauma as a teacher. If we do, it can make us more healthy and whole, wiser and stronger than we’ve ever been, kinder and more committed to creating a world in which we care for ourselves and love one another.

James S. Gordon, MD ~ Founder ~ The Center for Mind-Body Medicine

Free App Description:

Caring for oneself is essential to navigate stress, avoid burnout, and improve our ability to be present in the moment and in our lives.

This is particularly true for caregivers: the humanitarian aid workers, healthcare providers, first responders, and others in caregiving roles that dedicate their lives to helping others, often at the expense of their own wellbeing.

This is why we created a free app, Care for Caregivers: Skills for Resilience through Meditation and Mindful Movement, which can support caregivers in need of rebalancing. It affirms their resilience and ability to thrive and recover from difficult situations, even in the face of acute and chronic stress.

The Care for Caregivers app provides eight guided meditations led by Sharon Salzberg and Gayla Marie Styles that you can watch any time, anywhere, and at your own pace, each between 5-6 minutes long.

Download for iPhone

Download for Android/Google Play

Tips to Manage Caregiver Stress

You can ease your stress with a few simple techniques that don’t take a lot of time. Try these methods to ratchet down the tension. Two-minute relaxation. Switch your thoughts to yourself and your breathing. Take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly. Then do a mental scan of your body to find which areas feel tense or cramped. Quickly loosen up these areas. Let go of as much tension as you can…

Emergency Responders: Tips for taking care of yourself

Responding to disasters is both rewarding and challenging work. Sources of stress for emergency responders may include witnessing human suffering, risk of personal harm, intense workloads, life-and-death decisions, and separation from family. Stress prevention and management is critical for responders to stay well and to continue to help in the situation. There are important steps responders should take before, during, and after an event. To take care of others, responders must be feeling well and thinking clearly.

You Can Take Care of Yourself in Coronavirus Quarantine or Isolation, Starting Right Now

Six things you can do right at this moment, along with some simple exercise equipment to get for your house.

Taking Care of Your Emotional Health

It is natural to feel stress, anxiety, grief, and worry during and after a disaster. Everyone reacts differently, and your own feelings will change over time. Notice and accept how you feel. Taking care of your emotional health during an emergency will help you think clearly and react to the urgent needs to protect yourself and your family. Self-care during an emergency will help your long-term healing.

Helping Children Cope with Emergencies

Regardless of your child’s age, he or she may feel upset or have other strong emotions after an emergency. Some children react right away, while others may show signs of difficulty much later. How a child reacts and the common signs of distress can vary according to the child’s age, previous experiences, and how the child typically copes with stress.

151 Self Care Ideas to Increase Mindfulness and Avoid Burnout

The best self-care ideas are self-care activities that resonate with you on a personal level. The best way to come up with a complete self care plan is to make a list of all the things you enjoy doing best for self care. However, many of us have forgotten what it is like to take care of yourself first.