Vista Magazine - entretenimiento, entrevistas y más - impre.com

Canales de impre.com

Publicaciones

');if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Gecko')==-1){document.write(''+parametersAD+'tile='+(++tiles)+';sz=120x600;ord='+ord+'?"><\/script>');}document.write('<\/iframe>');

Encuesta

¿Crees que Obama mejorará la imagen internacional de Estados Unidos?

Si No

Diversión

');if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Gecko')==-1){document.write(''+parametersAD+'tile='+(++tiles)+';sz=728x90;ord='+ord+'?"><\/script>');}document.write('<\/iframe>');

Amor

Página anterior

If Duty Becomes a Burden

By Christina Hoag |
2008-05-28
| Vista Magazine

Califica este artículo:

Calificación promedio:

Tamaño del texto:

Imprimir

If duty becomes a burden... (FOTO: ImpreMedia)

1/1

When family members care for an ailing parent, spouse, or child, who takes care of the caregiver?
“If your husband is ailing, you’re doing more than a wife does. You didn’t sign up for him being in a wheelchair or whatever.”

Carmen Lorenz used to sleep on the floor at her husband’s feet as he watched TV so she would know if he got up. Since he suffered from Alzheimer’s and poor vision, she was afraid he would fall down the stairs or trip.

To cure his insomnia, she would drive him around at night to try to lull him to sleep. She dressed, fed, diapered, and showered him – even fearing to go to the bathroom because he might fall off the bed or wander.

For four years, she rarely went anywhere except on essential errands. Forget things like friends, movies, or the mall. “It was 24/7,” recalls the Monterey Park, Calif., resident who was widowed in March. “I was a basket case by the end.”

Carmen’s case is typical of caregivers who often neglect themselves and their own lives because their family member’s needs are so overwhelming. Depression, illness, and exhaustion are common among relatives shouldering the onerous task of caring for the chronically ill.

“They feel selfish about taking care of themselves,” says Deborah Halpern, communications director of the National Family Caregivers Association. “But that’s the greatest responsibility they have. If something happens to them, who’s going to take care of their family member?”

More and more people, particularly women, will find themselves in a home caregiving role in the future as the population ages, medical advances allow people to live longer and nursing home costs continue to rise.

Currently, about 50 million people, or 20 percent of the U.S. population, care for an ailing relative, whether aging parents or disabled children. But family caregivers are largely overlooked as fulfilling a key role in society.

“If family caregivers disappeared, our health care system would crumble,” Halpern says. “They are giving $300 billion in free caregiving services.”

Caregivers themselves often mistakenly judge their own role, thinking they are merely fulfilling their functions as a devoted spouse, child, or parent.

This view is particularly prevalent in the Hispanic community where families tend to be expected to care for relatives and caregiving is not seen as a burden but a duty. “You’re the wife and you have to handle it the best you can - and I didn’t want pity,” Carmen Lorenz says. “It was challenging.”
Changing that mindset is the first phase of caring for yourself, Halpern says.

“As soon as you take that mental step, you can treat caregiving as an additional job,” she says. “If your husband is ailing, you’re doing more than a wife does. You didn’t sign up for him being in a wheelchair or whatever.”

Hispanic families may also be reluctant to get a diagnosis, particularly of an aging relative. “They may see something like Alzheimer’s as ‘just getting old’,” Halpern says. “But it’s important to get a real diagnosis.”

Don’t be reluctant to ask for help from friends, neighbors and other family members, says Bonnie Lawrence, communications director of the Family Caregivers Alliance. “People aren’t trained as caregivers and it’s very demanding,” she notes.

Halpern recommends keeping a list of chores in your purse, such as taking the patient to the doctor or picking up a prescription, so that when someone volunteers “if I can do anything, let me know,” the caregiver can immediately take advantage of the offer instead of being at a loss as to what to respond.

Make sure you give yourself breaks. Tell the family member that you can’t come upstairs for an hour. Check into outside resources such as adult daycare centers, Meals on Wheels and home help so you can go out.

Lorenz says getting a break is the first thing she would advise family caregivers. “It’s very lonely. People tend to stay away when there’s someone sick. But you want to have people just call you to check in on you,” she says.

States and counties offer aid. The Family Caregiver Alliance’s website, www.caregiver.org, features a new state-by-state breakdown of public resources for caregivers and care recipients in its Family Care Navigator section.

Another website, www.lotsahelpinghands.com, offers online communities where caregivers can post their needs for help.
Seeking out support groups can also help with dealing with the frustration, depression, and stress that frequently overwhelms caregivers.

For example, memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, are particularly stressful because the patient is often physically mobile. Without constant supervision, he may wander out of the house, or do things like leave a stove on, endangering himself and others, Lawrence notes.

A support group can be an important way to relieve some of that constant stress, which can affect the caregiver’s immune system and lead to illness. Often, caregivers are worn out taking their family member to multiple doctor’s appointments and the last thing they want to do is go to their own appointment. Do it, Halpern says.
“One of the biggest issues is protecting your own health,” she says. “For example, caregivers have a higher incidence of dental issues because they don’t take the time to brush their teeth or floss at night. They just fall into bed exhausted.”

Caregivers often have to grapple with other aspects of dealing with a chronically ill relative, such as financial and legal matters. In the case of an aging parent, experts recommend that siblings meet to plan items such as wills, power of attorney, and financial obligations and consult an elder law attorney.

In other long-term care cases, family members should consult a counselor or to find out about private and public financial resources that are available for disabled children or younger adults. (Counselors can be found through the accompanying list of websites.)

Experts advise that families faced with a relative who needs long-term care must prepare, plan, and communicate.
But most of all the primary caregiver needs to take care of herself first and foremost. “Make sure you can make time for yourself,” Lawrence says. “Caregiving is very rewarding but it’s not easy.”

10 Tips for Family Caregivers

1. Caregiving is a job and respite is
your earned right. Reward yourself
with respite breaks often.
2. Watch out for signs of depression,
and don’t delay in getting professional
help when you need it.
3. When people offer to help, accept
the offer and suggest specific things
that they can do.
4. Educate yourself about your loved
one’s condition and how to communicate
effectively with doctors.
5. There’s a difference between caring
and doing. Be open to technologies
and ideas that promote your loved
one’s independence.
6. Trust your instincts. Most of the
time they’ll lead you in the right
direction.
7. Caregivers often do a lot of lifting,
pushing, and pulling. Be good to your
back.
8. Grieve for your losses, and then
allow yourself to dream new dreams.
9. Seek support from other caregivers.
There is great strength in knowing you
are not alone.
10. Stand up for your rights as a caregiver
and a citizen.

Source: National Family Caregivers Association, www.nfcacares.org

RESOURCES FOR CAREGIVERS

National Family Caregivers Association
1-800-896-3650
www.nfcacares.org

National Alliance for Caregiving
301-652-7711
www.caregiving.org

Family Caregiver Alliance
1-800-445-8106
www.caregiver.org

National Organization for Empowering Caregivers
1-212-807-1204
www.care-givers.com

Well Spouse Association
1-800-830-0879
www.wellspouse.org

Web communities
www.carepages.com
www.lotsahelpinghands.com

MESSAGES FOR CAREGIVERS TO LIVE BY

Believe in Yourself: Maintain a positive attitude by recognizing your strengths and limitations and set goals and boundaries for yourself and for your loved one.

Protect Your Health: Maintain your physical and emotional health and well being. Your good health is the greatest gift you can give your loved one.

Reach Out For Help: Asking for help is never a sign of weakness rather it demonstrates strength and a keen awareness of your own abilities and sense of self.

Speak up for your Rights: Arm yourself with vital information regarding your loved one’s diagnosis and treatment options so you can advocate for your loved one and develop strong self advocacy skills.

Source: National Family Caregivers Association

Imprimir

Selección del Editor

DiCaprio en deuda con el Titanic

El actor estadounidense...

Goles reviven a San Lorenzo

Con dos goles de su artillero...

Noticias Principales

Ver más Noticias

impreAutos.com

Visita el canal de autos en impre.com para conseguir las mejores ofertas de autos nuevos y usados.

Más detalles

Empleos

Consigue empleo o anuncia oportunidades de trabajo en nuestros clasificados.

Más detalles

Casas

Encuentra una vivienda o anuncia tu propiedad en nuestros clasificados.

Más detalles

');if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Gecko')==-1){document.write(''+parametersAD+'tile='+(++tiles)+';sz=300x250;ord='+ord+'?"><\/script>');}document.write('<\/iframe>');

Más de

Noticias
Deportes
Entretenimiento

Más trabas a los ex braceros ...

ETA asesina a empresario español ...

Richardson será secretario de Comercio ...

Ver todos

Esperan a Álvarez ...

Preparan el frac ...

Burress a su casa ...

Ver todos

Julieta Venegas es pura norteña ...

Investigan a Alejandro Sanz ...

Niurka Marcos: la emperadora del 2009 ...

Ver todos

');if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Gecko')==-1){document.write(''+parametersAD+'tile='+(++tiles)+';sz=125x125;ord='+ord+'?"><\/script>');}document.write('<\/iframe>');