For Caregivers » Planning

Starting Out Right – The Family Meeting

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:25:47 +0000

When it becomes clear that a family member requires care, it can be a daunting position to. Too often, when faced with this prospect, families tend to allow one family member to take the lead

Six General Strategies for the “Newbie” Adult Caregiver

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:46:16 +0000

It doesn’t matter whether the caregiver role was thrust upon you without much warning or you have slowly slid into it. Either way, the role of adult caregiver can be rather overwhelming, causing feelings of isolation, anxiety, sadness, trepidation, frustration and even resentment.

These feelings are normal and not at all uncommon and you can expect them to come and go throughout your tenure as a caregiver. With these feelings also come positive moments of appreciation for the person you are caring for, compassion and understanding.

Every caregiving situation is unique due to various circumstances but there are various strategies to help you cope through the times ahead that are universal. If you find yourself in that adult caregiver role, you should arm yourself with as much information as possible so that you can not only learning coping skills but also create a plan of action which includes alternatives for anything unanticipated.

Agency versus Private Health Care – Pros and Cons

admin — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:12:21 +0000

When people start out giving care to a sick family member, they usually assume that they will be able to handle the responsibility on their own and on an ongoing basis. In reality, however, this is seldom the case.

Often, people who require care deteriorate in their health, and as time passes, more and more care is needed. If the patient requires care because of a chronic injury, although their situation may not get worse, it will certainly not improve over time. No one can commit to giving care alone for the rest of their lives.

Part of being a good caregiver is enlisting help when you need it. When you need sustained, long term help to take some of the burden off of you, you have two main choices: agency health care and private health care. Each decision has its pros and cons

Sharing the Caregiving Role

admin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:00:14 +0000

When a parent becomes incapable of caring for themselves what role should the children play in their care? Too often, the burden of looking after that parent falls on the shoulders of a single child, no matter how many siblings there are. Research has shown that the oldest daughter in a family is the person who is most likely to step in and take on the role of caregiver, especially when a parent needs extensive, live-in care when they become completely unable to care for themselves.

But what drives this situation? Does the primary caregiver somehow freeze the other siblings out of the care? Are they unwilling to help? Are they unaware of how just how much care the parent actually needs?

The answers are not simple. It seems to researchers that when one child takes on the responsibility of caring for a parent, the other siblings tend to think that they

Finding the Right Caregiver for a Loved One

admin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:18:27 +0000

Caregiving can be such a tricky topic to discuss with a loved one who has had medical issues or simply just cannot do all of the things they want to do any more. When you notice that your loved one is not taking care of their own needs as well as they have in the past and you cannot give up your job to care for them or perhaps you live too far away to adequately assist them, you need some help finding an outside caregiver.

However, do you have any idea where to start? It is not as simple as posting an ad in the newspaper or word of mouth.