What Defines HEALTHY HOME ENVIRONMENT

Why is a healthy home environment important?

For a caregiver who is completely overwhelmed by taking care of someone else, and the ensuing work/life imbalance, a healthy home environment is not a luxury—it is a critical necessity for emotional and physical survival. Here is why a supportive home environment is vital for someone in your position (read more): Your Home Acts as an Emotional Sanctuary • Provides psychological refuge: When the outside world or your caregiving duties feel chaotic, a serene space offers a safe place to process heavy emotions. • Reduces cognitive overload: A cluttered, messy home constantly signals your brain that "more work needs to be done," whereas a clean space allows an exhausted mind to finally rest. • Lowers stress hormones: Surrounding yourself with comforting textures, favorite scents, and soft lighting directly triggers your nervous system to downshift from "fight-or-flight" into a state of safety. Your Home Recharges Your Depleted Reserves • Protects sleep quality: Caregivers are often chronically sleep-deprived; a dark, cool, quiet bedroom ensures that the few hours of sleep you do get are deeply restorative. • Prevents caregiver burnout: You cannot pour from an empty cup. A physical space that brings you joy and contentment helps rebuild the patience and energy required to care for another human being. • Combats the "thief of joy": When you feel overwhelmed, it is easy to compare your stressful life to others. A content home space keeps you grounded in what is good right now, protecting your mental well-being. Your Healthy Home Minimizes Domestic Crises • Prevents physical accidents: Removing hazards like loose rugs or blocked pathways ensures that neither you nor the person you care for suffers a fall, eliminating the trauma of an emergency room visit. • Reduces the "to-do" friction: When a home is organized, daily caregiving tasks (like finding medication or preparing meals) take less effort, saving your precious energy. • Stops illness before it starts: A dry, mold-free, ventilated home keeps both you and your loved one physically healthy, preventing you from having to care for a sick person while being sick yourself. How to create a healthy home environment To establish a healthy home environment, you must actively address both physical safety hazards and emotional stressors to create a balanced space for well-being of both the caregiver and the cared for. Where to begin? 15 minutes of decluttering per day, in the room that causes you the most stress. If you don’t have 15 minutes, try 10 minutes or less, in other words, do declutter, but make it suit your life. Soon you will begin to see the improvement and feel confident in the new routine you are creating for your home and your life. Try to create and maintain one clutter-free room. Fill this room with comforting textures, favorite scents and soft lighting. This gives you a sense of spaciousness and security, a sanctuary amid the chaos and provides a launching pad for the rest of the home. Washing the dishes and making the sink shine can give you a sense of happiness, enable confidence, and a sense of progress. To protect sleep quality, turn off your phone or put it in another room. Make sure that you can get in and out of all doors inside and out. To get good air quality, begin to get rid of mold, trash, and anything else that impedes clean clear breathing for yourself and your loved ones. Ventilate frequently, by opening your windows daily to get rid of indoor air pollutants. Control moisture with fans during showers and cooking to prevent mold. Use an air purifier to filter out allergens and dust particles. A health or projects coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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Comfortable

Do you feel comfortable in your home? Mental Health America says that having a healthy home living situation in which you feel comfortable, supported, and serene, is a large part of mental health, relieving anxiety and depression. To create a comfortable and healthy home environment, MHA (2024) suggests keeping comfort items around such as your favorite blanket, or a candle with your favorite scent; and choosing colors, patterns, textures that comfort you while making you feel safe and content in your home. As a caregiver you may find many demands placed on you. Having a space in which you feel comfortable and safe can help relieve stress. A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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Contentment

Feeling joy and gratitude for the space you live in, you feel content. As a caregiver and a human being, you might find yourself comparing your home or living situation to others’ or comparing your living situation to your dream home. Theodore Roosevelt is thought to have said that “comparison is the thief of joy.” Donghia (2024) indicated that if you consistently were in a state of comparison, you might miss what’s good and great about right where you are. Donghia (2024) offered some ways to be content with your home, even if it’s not your dream home. These tips for finding gratitude for your home, are as follows: 1) Balancing desire with reality—it’s good to have goals and be aware of what you love—but don’t let that block your appreciation of the present things that meet these desires or meet other desires; 2) Designate one clutter-free zone—an easy way to have less stress and enjoy home more; 3) Reflect on what you love about your home. Don’t necessarily view it as temporary, as you may miss what you appreciate about it; 4) make good use of the space you have, repurposing it as needed; 5) and at the end of the day, get each room ready for the next day, so you wake up into a clutter-free, comfortable, home. A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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Safe

A safe home can help in feeling secure and support good health. NCHH says that “a healthy home is one that is dry, clean, safe, ventilated, free of pests and contaminants, well maintained, thermally comfortable and affordable.” Whether an environment is safe or unsafe can affect your mental, emotional, physical and social health. As a caregiver you need to provide for your own safety and the safety of your loved one. Make sure your home is physically safe. Make sure that exits are not blocked and that carpets will not trip anyone up. Declutter your environment then add colors and textures and plants to brighten your space. A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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CHAOS;Perfectionism

Do you suffer from CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Does your perfectionism stop you from even beginning to declutter? Do you suffer from shame when you believe you have too much stuff. In order to finally have people over, here are some ways to get started. Kate of GoodandSimple.com suggests writing down what specific things stop you from inviting someone in. Not in general “the mess” but specifically, what about “the mess” stops you from opening the door when someone stops by—is it your own appearance? Are the clothes in the middle of the living room floor? Or paper on every surface? Be analytical, not judgmental—which simply means don’t add cruelty and shaming to your self-talk. As a caregiver you may find that time is at a premium, but you can do this! After you figure out what is stopping you from welcoming people into your home, you can create a simple daily routine which incorporates the areas of shame to your new daily (15 minutes a day) decluttering routine. A cluttered home may not feel inviting, and your shutting people out can cause you to be sad and lonely (Brody, 2023). You may not have everything in perfect order (move over, perfectionism!) but your home can be guest-ready -- at least much of the time. And if you really want to make a major change fast (instead of a slow-but-sure pace) invite someone over (even if the person is a house cleaner you just hired, or a good friend). You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a short period of time, when you think of an “outsider” viewing your home. And I don’t mean stash-and-dash either. It may not be perfect, but your home can be guest-ready using either of these methods. A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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Decluttering

As a caregiver you may find that it is hard to find the time to tidy things up. You may also get something out for a demanding loved one and then instead of putting it away after use, leave it there, instead of in its “home”. MHA (2024) emphasized that as clutter builds up in your home environment, it can cause or add to caregiver stress, lack of focus, depression, and/or confusion, even weight gain, while Roster, Ferrari, and Jurket (2016) found that having a sense of psychological home contributes to wellbeing, but that clutter detracts from a sense of psychological home and wellbeing. One study showed that women who saw their homes as cluttered had more cortisol (a stress hormone) than those who saw their homes as well organized and restful (Brody, 2023). Tidiness helps to create a sense of control, predictability, and calmness in daily living, enhances a sense of wellbeing, and alleviates anxiety and fatigue (MHA, 2024). You can get your home decluttered doing 10-15 minutes a day every day for a year. Make an appointment with yourself. Calendar it. Take trash/recycle bags; a box for donations; and a basket to carry things to other areas when you’re done. Here’s how you declutter: 1) Jump in anywhere, there is no perfect place to begin, but do make sure you have your timer and do stay in the area you start in; 2) Set the timer for 15 minutes—or 10 minutes if that’s all you have; 3) if you’re feeling stressed, choose the easiest room so that you get to a win sooner! ; 4) Throw out the trash and if you found things that didn’t belong in the room you decluttered--take them to the correct place. That’s all there is to it! Serenity, control, and wellbeing in 15 minutes (This Simplified Home). A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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Blocked Exits/Entrances; Safety

Do you (or your loved one) have boxes or furniture blocking the exit or entrances to your home? Blocking the entrances with boxes or furniture makes it hard for people to come in to visit and blocking the exit is unsafe if there is an emergency. Perhaps you don’t really have enough room for all your things and your loved one’s things, and you aren’t sure how to deal with all the paper that has accumulated with your loved one’s health odyssey. And sure, you can move the boxes or furniture, but in an emergency (such as a fire), this blockage could be life-threatening, and your home become a fire trap. What to do? White (2020) says to think of your home as a large container. If your home is cluttered, you have too much stuff for the container. With exits and/or entrances blocked, the situation may call for throwing out or giving away anything that there isn’t enough room for. A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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Organization

Caring for a loved one can be both rewarding and frustrating. Life can be especially hectic as a caregiver. Nevertheless, getting organized and maintaining it can offer you peace and a sense of control and wellbeing in the midst of perceived chaos. {read more} As a caregiver, we can feel weighed down as we make care decisions and are pulled in different ways. Routines make life simpler. You probably have some daily/weekly/monthly routines already that are either done with or for your loved one. These routines should ideally be evaluated and updated. Bursack (2024) indicates that there are at least nine routines that should be implemented (and you may already have in place): 1) Create a system for medication management. Issues vary, but common things to track have to do with insurance, prescription refills, making sure your loved one takes the medication (requires calendaring), and then fitting it all into your own schedule. 2) Find products that can ease daily activities. For instance, Bursack suggests that a two-handled mug may make it easier for a patient or loved one who has dexterity issues to drink without help. Find products that will help with recurring problems. 3) Prepare for emergencies, such as your not getting home on time. What can they eat? Snow is imminent. Do you have warm clothes and a way to clear the driveway? 4) Keep a health journal of your care receiver’s needs. This can save time should you suddenly not be able to provide care. It can also serve as a record of your loved one’s evolving needs and symptoms, which can be useful when attending doctor’s appointments. 5) Keep a journal for yourself. Journaling is good for mental, physical, and emotional health and is a way to maintain honesty with yourself. Are you approaching caregiver burnout? A journal can keep track of your caregiver’s journey. 6) Maintain a dedicated calendar. It is helpful to keep a separate calendar for your loved one and one for yourself, although some find this cumbersome. Digital calendars may be able to break out your loved one’s calendar and your own but show how they overlap. What works best for you? 7) Reduce clutter. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but Bursack (2024) recommends that you find a balance that makes sense for you. 8) Anticipate your loved one’s future needs. This will help you to prepare for likely changes in their health. 9) Take time for yourself on a regular basis, in whatever way feels good for you. See friends, read a book, spend time with a support group. To prevent caregiver burnout, and enjoy mental, emotional, and physical health make sure you practice self-care. Finally, to prevent caregiver burnout, and enjoy mental, emotional, and physical health, make sure you practice self-care. A health coach can help you make lifestyle changes and establish new habits. You can look on our website SurvivingBurnout.org for health and project coaches.

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