{"id":915,"date":"2014-06-13T10:52:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T15:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholeperson.com\/wordpress\/?p=915"},"modified":"2014-06-13T10:53:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-13T15:53:53","slug":"caregiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/caregiving","title":{"rendered":"Caregivers and Caregiving"},"content":{"rendered":"

About Caregivers:<\/h1>\n

\"Complete<\/a>Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter stated,<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers, those who\u00a0<\/em>currently are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This includes virtually everyone!<\/p>\n

A Brief History of Caregiving<\/h2>\n

In past generations, it was customary for people to have large families. Members of an extended family often\u00a0lived within a few miles of each other. Few women had jobs outside the home, so the elderly and infirm were\u00a0cared for within the family. Both the primary caregiver and care-receiver had the support of nearby relatives,\u00a0friends and community.<\/p>\n

Circumstances are different today. Families are typically smaller and are often scattered across the country and\u00a0around the globe. A much larger percentage of women work outside the home. People live longer, often with\u00a0chronic illnesses. These factors make caregiving much more complicated than it was in the past.<\/p>\n

The early stage of caregiving is often handled by family members or by friends who live near the person needing\u00a0help. They begin by simply doing what they can and often, as time passes, assume the caregiver role without\u00a0realizing it \u2013 caregiving isn\u2019t a job that many people choose to sign up for.<\/p>\n

The tasks caregivers perform can vary widely, from transporting a child with disabilities to school each day, to\u00a0doing someone else\u2019s laundry, to helping with medications, to dealing with insurance companies. Caregiving\u00a0can be temporary, as when someone is recovering from an accident, or long-term, as when caring for a person in\u00a0need of significant ongoing support.<\/p>\n

\"Caregivers\"

Illustration by Amy L. Brodsky, LISW-S<\/p><\/div>\n

In an attempt to define family caregiving, the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) developed a list\u00a0called \u201cCaregiving Is.\u201d The text below was inspired by that list.<\/p>\n

Caregiving<\/a> is as diverse as the individuals needing it.<\/strong>\u00a0It can\u00a0be 24-hour care for persons\u00a0who cannot manage\u00a0daily tasks of living or are suffering a significant level of cognitive loss. It can be preparing for an uncertain future\u00a0because a spouse has a progressively disabling disease, even though that person is still able to function quite well.\u00a0It can be temporary, last several years or last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Caregiving means being a person\u2019s healthcare advocate.<\/strong> It requires learning to work with doctors and other\u00a0health care professionals and to navigate government healthcare programs. It can also be learning what it means\\\u00a0to die with dignity and making sure that the care-receiver\u2019s wishes will be honored.<\/p>\n

Caregiving is stressful work.<\/strong> Most people have had no training or education regarding the many aspects of\u00a0caregiving when they begin helping their care-receiver. They discover that caregiving is assuming tasks they never\u00a0dreamed of undertaking. It can be learning about medications, wheelchairs, lifts and gadgets that help struggling\u00a0fingers button a shirt. It can involve doctor visits, calls to 911 and long days and nights in a hospital waiting or\u00a0emergency room.<\/p>\n

Caregiving challenges people to go beyond their comfort zone.<\/strong> It is having conversations on topics most people hope they will never need to address. It is grappling with questions that often have no easy answers. It is\u00a0loving, giving and sharing. It is accepting, adapting and being willing to keep on going.<\/p>\n

Caregiving forces individuals to deal with change.<\/strong> They are often required to re-evaluate finances, living\u00a0conditions and\/or their personal work situation. They will need to make compromises and readjust again and\u00a0again as the circumstances change.<\/p>\n

Caregiving is an endless search for balance.<\/strong> It is seeking the middle ground between doing too much for the\u00a0care-receiver and doing too little. It is trying to find time for personal needs \u2013 and hopefully, even wants \u2013 while\u00a0providing for another\u2019s needs. It is recognizing that one cannot do it alone \u2013 one can and should ask for help,\u00a0respite care and time off for a vacation to recharge through activities that help maintain a sense of self.<\/p>\n

Caregiving is a strain on relationships.<\/strong> Even the best of relationships can be challenged by the stress of\u00a0caregiving. The demands on one\u2019s time and energy may leave family members or friends feeling neglected.\u00a0Moving a parent into a family home \u2013 or moving into the parents\u2019 home \u2013 can be a source of contention\u00a0between couples, and between parents and their children. Finances and other emotionally charged issues can also\u00a0cause tension between adult children of an ailing parent.<\/p>\n

Caregiving<\/a> can be a lonely world.<\/strong> While the tasks and experiences of caregiving may be similar in nature,\u00a0surprisingly they are not what unites family caregivers. According to the National Family Caregivers Association,\u00a0the common bond of caregiving is the emotional impact.<\/p>\n

Those caring for others often feel lonely, isolated, and unacknowledged for all their work and sacrifice. They\u00a0can experience anger and resentment toward family members and others who carry on as usual, while they of\u00a0necessity give up much of their normal life. They grieve the losses in their own lives as well as and the loss of the\u00a0person their care-receiver once was as they watch him or her decline. They often experience depression, sadness,\u00a0pain, the need for normalcy and regret for what they might have done had circumstances been different. They\u00a0also may feel guilty because they sometimes wish it were over.<\/p>\n

Caregivers can find comfort in learning that such feelings are perfectly normal and in finding ways to cope with\u00a0them in support groups and within these pages. They can also find hope in the possibility of connecting on a\u00a0deep level with their care-receiver and creating closer bonds with family members. In fact, discovering positive\u00a0meaning in the tasks of caregiving is crucial for the emotional health of everyone involved.<\/p>\n

Caregiving can also be moments of joy and fulfillment.<\/p>\n