Category Archives: Caregiving – General

The author of this article, Linda Jordan, manager of Duke Community Bereavement Services, writes beautifully about caregiver grief.  And she rejects the term “anticipatory grief,” stating that the losses are here and now.  (Losses are to independence, physical control, speech, memory, cognition, etc.)  The author is focused on Alzheimer’s caregivers.  I’ve replaced the term “Alzheimer’s” with “neurological disorder” as I believe the concepts apply equally as well.  Here’s an excerpt:

“[As] long as the person with [a neurological disorder] is alive, caregiver grief, though appropriate, is generally not recognized or sanctioned. The community is more likely to associate grief with a physical death. Yet, grieving the living is real; it is constant and complex; and it is important that caregivers receive help in managing it.  When grief is acknowledged… the concept most often used is anticipatory grief. Although this term has value, the losses incurred with [a neurological disorder] are not just future; they are actual and profound in the present. Each pre-death loss in this progressive disease is compounded by all previous losses and introduces new tangible losses, as well as potential losses in the future.”

The remainder of the article encourages healthcare professionals to apply Therese Rando’s six grief processes in working with family caregivers experiencing caregiver grief.  Some interesting stories are shared.  Here’s a link to the full article:

classic.ncmedicaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/NCMJ/jan-feb-05/Jordan.pdf

Commentary
Grieving the Living!
North Carolina Medical Journal
Volume 66, Number I
By Linda E. Jordan, DMin, CT
January/February 2005

Robin

This article is written from the perspective of a caregiver for someone with dementia (especially Alzheimer’s or someone with memory problems) but most of the article applies to a caregiver for any person.  The author is The Pines of Sarasota, which is the educational institute that partners with dementia expert Teepa Snow.

These are the seven signs for someone to consider a long-term care situation:

1. Caregiver Stress.  This is detrimental to your health, and looking after your own health is the best thing you can do for the person in your care.  So, “if your stress levels remain high over an extended period of time, be honest with yourself.”  Consider a change to your living situation, or get more support.

2. Shadowing.  If the person in your care follows you around, this is wearing on the nerves, increasing conflict and adding to caregiver stress.

3. Home Safety & Wandering.

4. Wandering & Elopement.  Wandering is leaving a safe environment.  Elopement is leaving with intention, such as wanting to return to one’s ‘own’ home.

5. Sundowning, which is “increasing confusion and agitation usually occurring around sunset in people with some types of dementia.”  It can be caused by over-stimulation and fatigue.  Senior care facilities can reduce sundowning.

6. Aggression.  Whether verbal, physical, or sexual, aggression may be too much to handle for an in-home caregiver.  [Robin’s note:  This is especially a problem in our Lewy Body Dementia caregiver group.]

7. Changing Care Needs.  Be aware that the needs of the person in your care may eventually surpass your physical capabilities as the disease progresses.  Seek help before you harm your own well being.

Here’s a link to the full article:

www.pineseducation.org/7-signs-it-is-time-to-consider-a-senior-care-community/
    
7 Signs it is Time to Consider a Senior Care Community
The Pines of Sarasota Education & Training Institute
2016

Robin

Here are some useful tips from the Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center about how caregivers should prepare for what happens to a care recipient if the caregiver is delayed or injured.  Suggestions below.

Robin

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www.delmarcaregiver.org/uploads/1/6/5/2/16526294/november_and_december__2016_-_not_sent.pdf

Safety Tips – What If You Are Delayed or Injured?
The Caregiver
Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center Newsletter
November/December 2016

Safety Tips – What If You Are Delayed or Injured?

If you are responsible for the regular care of another person, what happens if you can’t be there? An accident or medical emergency can happen to anyone, at any time. It is important that emergency personnel (police, fire department and/or emergency room professionals) know that you are a caregiver and that someone is counting on you for their health and safety.

To ensure the well-being of the person you care for, always carry an emergency ID card in your wallet that identifies you as a caregiver. On the card, list:

* the name and location of the care recipient;

* your relationship to the person;

* an alternative caregiver or family member and their phone number;

* additional information on the person’s medical condition and needs; and

* a message indicating whether the person in your care is OK to be left alone.

Place an Emergency File Card on your refrigerator with the same information. Paramedics are trained to
look at the refrigerator for information on you.

Source: SeniorNavigator.org