By Dana Pavelock, Dir.,
Home Care Operations
Roughly 25 percent of families are relying on informal family caregivers to bridge the needs of caring for a loved one at home. Today, 30 million households are providing care for an adult over the age of 50 and this number is expected to double over the next 25 years. This informal and highly motivated workforce of caregivers often find themselves struggling to navigate a very complex system of health care and are under a great deal of stress.
Informal caregivers tend to be family members, mostly women between ages 45 and 65, attempting to balance the needs of parents and grandparents with children and grandchildren. Often these individuals find themselves suddenly immersed in the role of caregiver without warning, preparation and/or training and are at risk of compromising their own health care and social needs. Rarely is there a support system for them.
As the aging population continues to grow at a very fast rate there will be more and more demands placed upon family caregivers. Combined also with a higher life expectancy and with the trend for the aging population to want to remain at home, we will need ongoing support from local and county government and private agencies.
Some of you may not be in a care-giving role at this time. While you might not be thinking about it now, being proactive and establishing a plan in anticipation you will soon be launched into caring for a family member may help avoid some of the stress and other tensions that materialize at work and at home.
The first step is a conversation with the person you expect will require more care and support to live safely at home, identifying potential support and services that are readily available, anticipating care needs and establishing a plan. All too often, one person takes on the primary role as caregiver which often leads to physical and emotional exhaustion and can result in development of increased health risks to the caregiver.
Fortunately there is help available for individuals who find themselves suddenly in that care-giving role. The best resource is to start by contacting your count’s Office for the Aging, surfing the Internet and reaching out to home care agencies. There is a wealth of information that will provide you with the necessary tools and support you may need so that you can take good care of a loved one and, at the same time, help maintain your own quality of life.
As you might expect, it takes a very special person to fulfill the role of caregiver. In our particular agency, we have long recognized the value of both paid and unpaid family caregivers, recently obtaining a grant through the Dutchess County Office of the Aging to lead a Caregiver Support, Training and Counseling program that provides various workshops, trainings and even an employee to provide one-on-one visitation in the home, free of charge for caregivers.
When it comes to paid caregivers, please do not underestimate their genuine concern and passion for what it is they do every day.
Relationships that are formed between patients and our caregivers is priceless and can be captured by quoting a few words taken from something written by Home Health Aide Sharon Greene: “I am a health care worker, I enjoy my job and this is what I do best. Put a smile on someone’s face, making their day and just being there for them.”
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1 comment:
Thanks so much for your blog. In the beginning of the "Caregiving Journey," the statistics of family participation is much higher--80% attemnpt to go it alone. (stat from the national family caregiver's alliance)
This is usually because they simply haven't prepared and have to step up to care for their loved one who might have recently been diagnosed with a heart condition, or had a stroke, or early signs of dementia. They might still be living at home--or driving, but they need some family care.
Over time, the caregiver's role grows exponentially--and many are boomers who are still working or sandwich generation-ers with children or grandchildren to raise.
Eventually, most people do need more help than family members can offer. They might hire home health care, or even consider an assisted living facility.
I cared for my mom for over 15 years--the last three in my home. I went through all of these stages and all the emotions that go with it.
I wrote every day, and our story of the challenges, frustrations, funny and sweet times--and it became a book, Mothering Mother.
I'm profoundly grateful for all the support and care I found along the way.
Thank you all for what you do.
~Carol D. O'Dell
Author of Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir
available on Amazon
www.mothering-mother.com
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