Related Articles
| Rate This Article: |
Caregivers need help because they are dealing with a huge task
Knowing
that there are others, lots of others, in the same boat as you is helpful. Do not hesitate to take advantage of the resources that are available to caregivers of elderly
parents. There are online forums and chat rooms where you can seek advice and
solace. You will not feel so alone as a result. Elder care is big business and important business. As a result, there is a plethora of information out there. There are many aging resource products, and medical equipment and supplies stores, to assist caregivers as well as those they are caring for.
Elder
care checklists are available online or from nursing facilities and hospitals.
These checklists can be your starting place, especially if you are a new
caregiver. A checklist can guide you through the steps of providing care for
the elderly as well as give you invaluable information. It will help you, the
caregiver, know what questions to ask the medical specialists, many of which will be spelled out in resources for caregivers of the elderly. A huge part of
your care-giving role is to advocate for the patient who can no longer advocate
for himself.
You
also need to be savvy about the drugs your elderly patient is taking and if
there are drug interactions that you need to be on the look-out for because
sometimes a doctor will overlook this and prescribe potentially life threatening
drug combinations.
There
are online links to prescription drugs interactions, which you should read and
even print out if your patient is on a litany of medications. It is hard to keep track. Get a pill box
that allows you to put the morning drugs in a certain compartment and so on.
Buy a white erase board and write down the morning medications, the afternoon pills
and the evening medicines; write in big letters so your patient can read it as
well as you.
Write
A.M. and P.M. on the lids of the medicine bottles and write the generic name of
the drug beside the official name so you can keep the drugs straight. Also
write on the prescription bottle what the medicine is for: Heart; prostate;
water pill, etc.
Buy
clothing (pants, shorts, pajama bottoms) with drawstrings so that they are easy
to get on and off of the patient. Write emergency numbers in big noticeable
letters and post them near the phone and program them into your speed dial on
your cell phone as well.
Look into adult day care and respite care. Most hospitals
provide home health care. An aide can come in and bathe the elderly person and
even do the laundry, wash dishes or run errands for you.
Sometimes a house has
to be renovated to accommodate an elderly person who can no longer climb stairs
or get in and out of a bathtub. There are numerous sites online that can direct
you to companies that cater exclusively to the needs of the elderly and which will make their life a lot more comfortable, as well as yours. You can get potty
chairs, hospital beds, hand railings, handicap accessible showers and bathtubs
and canes, just to name a few of the devices that can be very helpful.
When an adult child cares for her elderly
patient there is probably a lot of history between the two of them, some of
which may be unresolved and not necessarily a good history. The caretaker may
find herself back in the position of being the daughter, at the mercy of her
parent and her irritability and demands, while simultaneously being
the one in charge of taking care of the older person, who has decided to treat her like the
child that she no longer is. It is a weird and challenging position to be in.
The caregiver may find herself reverting back to teenage
behaviors, and feeling resentment toward her parent, and the elderly person may
start treating her 60 year old daughter the same way she did when she was
16. Roles reverse and get scrambled up
easily and this can be very difficult on the caregiver as well as on the
patient.
Join
a support group, where you can learn a lot from others who are in the same
situation as you. You will be amazed at how inventive non-medical caregivers
can be when it comes to devising coping mechanisms, which allows them to undertake this
challenge with aplomb and with their sanity intact. Locate online resources, books, and other materials that will help you cope and understand the many facets of your role as caregiver.
A
long term caregiver is at risk of suffering from exhaustion, feelings of
sadness, despair, depression, being overwhelmed and unappreciated, especially when
they are doing this 24/7. Do not overlook your own needs. You need a break
occasionally, a chance to get away and do normal things. Find someone
dependable who can spot you and furlough you for an afternoon or more. If the
caregiver gets down, this is not going to benefit anyone and certainly not the
elderly patient. Do not be afraid to ask for help. This is not a sign of
weakness. We are not super human. We all have our limits.
The job of caregiver for the elderly is never easy. Dealing with end of life issues can be grim. Do not be shy about asking for help. Call the social worker at your local hospital and ask her to hook you up with caregivers who can come in and give you a break. Hospice is a wonderful organization. It will send a nurse into your home, on a daily basis, if necessary. You do not have to be alone throughout this monumental challenge. There are people and organizations that are prepared to help you through this huge undertaking.
Resources:
Aging Parents and Elder Care: Checklists
|
|