Resources for Caregivers

Caregivers Forced to Choose Between Caring for a Loved One and a Job

At least 42 percent of U.S. workers have been caregivers for aging loved ones in the last five years. In fact, most family caregivers work full or part-time while caring for their parent, spouse, aunt, uncle, or other loved one.

The majority (68 percent) of family caregivers report making work accommodations because of caregiving duties including: arriving late/leaving early or taking time off, cutting back on work hours, changing jobs or stopping work entirely.

If this is you, you understand the challenge of juggling work and caregiving. You’ll want to know that AARP is fighting for workplace flexibility, like family leave or paid or unpaid sick leave, to support family caregivers as they balance work and caregiving responsibilities. AARP is pushing for legislation that would:

Let employees use their existing sick time to help care for a family member; or
Give employees a few hours of unpaid time each year to help care for their loved ones; or
Allow employees unpaid leave to take their loved ones to the doctor, in the same way 15 states allow employees to take unpaid time off to attend parent-teacher conferences and school events.

Video from AARP –

Medication Tips For Seniors – Caregiver Information

Did you know that nearly one-third of the population has difficulty swallowing pills? Most people don’t swallow pills correctly. This often results in gagging, choking, and vomiting, which usually results in people not taking their medications at all, or not taking the recommended dosage, which then results in a need for later additional medical care.

If you are caring for a senior who has trouble swallowing their pills, here are some medication tips and some good news. Researchers have found new techniques that make pill-popping easier, even for large pills.

German researchers recently tested two methods of swallowing pills and found that 80% of the time these methods worked better than the normal way of taking a pill. The first is the “pop-bottle method,” and it makes tablets go down with ease. The second is the “lean-forward technique,” which sends capsules straight down the throat. Both have been rigorously tested by 151 volunteers who swallowed numerous dummy pills for the sake of science. And now they are being shared with the world via their publication in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Read about each method so you can try it yourself or have the senior you are caring for try it. Just may make life a little easier for you both.

caregivers medication for seniors Senior Home Care Senior Nutrition

Spouses Provide Complex Care At Home

Spouses taking care of one another during illness seems a natural part of an intimate relationship. However, the reality is that spouses are assuming the caregiving responsibility over long periods of time and with little or no help from professionals or other family members.

If you compare spouses to adult children taking care of a parent at home, you might say that the spouse is better off as a caregiver. This is because they have fewer competing responsibilities than caregivers who may also have young children or teenagers at home, plus a full-time job. However, this apparent advantage is offset by financial issues, health problems, and other limitations. Plus, not to forget the stresses of constant caregiving.

Additionally, add to that the fact that family caregivers are expected to do tasks that in the past were done in a hospital or nursing home. In this era of complicated medication regimens, wound care, and procedures associated with complex chronic conditions, caregiving is a challenge that no one should have to face alone.

Home care agencies like Dignity Care, licensed as a Class A agency with registered nurses, are a perfect support for family caregivers who need just a little (or a lot) of extra help and expertise.

AARP’s Public Policy Institute has produced a collection of studies and reports on family caregivers that are well worth a read.

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Care for a Senior Can Cause Stress for the Caregiver

Dignity Care - When Caring For The Dementia Patient Is Hard On The Caregiver

Family caregivers need to worry about themselves as much as the person they are caring for. Caring for yourself is part of being a good caregiver for another. In a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, “Quality of life: impact of chronic illness on the partner,” the authors stated: “… the most striking research finding is a tendency for the caregiver’s quality of life to be worse than that of the patient.”

What can you do?

Be on the alert for that Super Caregiver mentality that has you thinking you’re not an adequate caregiver unless you’re giving 100% of your attention and unless you’re sure never to have more fun than he or she is having.

Read more of the article and the 6 tips the author gives for caregivers.

Caregiver