Respite care to help recharge the caregiver

How important is repite care to the health of the caregiver? The article in the Republican on June 24 provides real life examples of how respite care helps everyday people who are the primary caregivers of their elderly parents. An abstract from a pilot study conducted at the University of Florida on the effect of respite care on the stress levels of the caregivers suggests that a caregiver’s stress level will be minimized through respite care. Both of the previous materials are directly related to respite care for people caring for the elderly. However, every primary caregiver needs to take advantage of respite care services available in their region. A good resource for everyone on respite care is the ARCH National Respite Network. This website details the life of the Lifespan Respite Bill passed in 2006 and how it is completely underfunded. We all need to get in touch with our legislators and make sure that they fund the bill.

EEOC Issues Employer Best Practices to Minimize Discrimination against Caregivers

According to the Kansas City info Zine, the document provides recommendations for employer policies in an attempt to remove barriers to equal employment opportunity for workers with caregiving responsibilities. Some of the key situations covered in the Best Practices Document include personal or sick leave policies that allow employees to use leave to care for ill family members and equal-opportunity policies that address unlawful discrimination against caregivers. The entire document can be found on the EEOC website. This is a small step in starting to get administrators within the government to realize the enormity of the contributions to society and sacrifices that family caregivers make in our country, as well as, most countries in the world.

Caregiver needing care

Well it has been a while. I went up and got the two kids Cody (10) and Elizabeth (6) so that their mom could continue tests to determine her complete diagnosis. These kids have been through so much in the last year. Their Grandpa died from a complication from surgery in March 2007. Then within 21/2 months their Grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. She died in December after their mother, their aunt, and the rest of the family including them, spent as much time as possible taking care of her. Their father hurt his back around March and then was diagnosed with spinal chord tumor which was operated on in early May. He was to be off work for at least a year because he lost much of the feeling on his right side. Within 5 or 6 weeks, their mom felt a lump in her breast and then she was diagnosed with breast cancer but not yet given the battery of tests to determine the severity. By the time I picked up the kids in early July, she had decided no matter what she would have a double mastectomy due to the family history of her mother’s death and our cousin on the same side of the family. I wanted to bring the kids down to CA for a few weeks until my cousin and her husband could deal with the changing roles and life issues without the kids. I wanted the kids to have time away from words like “cancer” “surgery” and the yelling that was going on because of the stress of the year. My goal for our time together was to get them to express their feelings about their mom, dad, their relationship, and their grandma’s death. But as the diagnosis got worse and worse, I realized I needed to prepare them to help take care of their house in a way to minimize germs for their mom as she went through chemo and possibly a few surgeries. It may me think about the challenge of being the caregiver (my cousin to her children and husband recuperating from major surgery) and now facing a disease that has killed your mother and your cousin knowing that you will move from full time caregiver to caregiving when you feel well and being cared for by those you feel a responsibility to care for. It was definitely hard enough to care for Cody and Elizabeth without me working, feeling ill, or stressed by other life factors. What must my cousin feel. She helped care for my aunt and knows both the pain of caring for someone who had always cared for you and watching that person lose her dignity. When we think of caregiving, we typically think of an elderly person or someone with a chronic illness or disability or a illness leading to death but what about the caregiver that will have to accept the care of his/her children or spouse that she/he had always cared for. The pain of not being there for them because you are too tired. The sadness associated with not being able to seem upbeat and spunky during the happy times of your young children. I can only imagine what she is going through. She has Stage 4 breast and Stage 4 bone and a possible spot on her kidney. What type of help does a caregiver like my cousin need? Those of you out there that have witnessed this phenomenon how was it handled. I know my cousin is still working and trying to do as much as possible for her children. She is upbeat and has a positive attitude but her situation is so very different that caring for a middle aged person with adult children. My cousin is a great mom and right now she is only concerned about how this is effecting those she has been caring for, not how she is doing. She is much like her mom. When I was taking care of my aunt she tried to keep most of the family away because she had always been the rock so she wasn’t sure that everyone could handle the chores needed. She found out that all of us rose to the occasion. But how do children that have seen so much death in the last year, rise to the occasion and not have it effect their school work and relationships with others?

Caregiver again?

I was just recovering from the fatigue and depression that I felt after caring for my aunt as she lost her battle with breast cancer. And now, my cousin (my aunt’s daughter) was just diagnosed with breast cancer (one week after her mother in law was diagnosed with lung cancer and 6 weeks after her husband had major spinal chord surgery). She has 2 children, works, and has been taking care of her husband and his mother. From May 2007 to Dec 2007, she helped care for her mother. Now life has dealt her a big blow. I have volunteered to take her children for 2 weeks while she has more tests before a double mastectomy. This time I have to make sure I take care of myself because soon I will have to take care of my elderly parents. More importantly, I must be mentally and physically healthy enough to be there for my cousin and her family. Hence, I will drive the 14 hours to pick them up when I do not have to cancel any of my previously scheduled appointments. I learned from the first time that if you don’t take care of yourself while you are caregiving, you may end up needing care yourself.

Long Term Health Care

This is a portion of a good article on long term health care (LTHC) on Forbes.com (May 22,2008) under investments.

Long-term-care insurance may not be right for every situation. It may not be the answer for people who can rely on family members to provide care for them at home, says Michael Haubrich, a fee-only certified financial planner in Racine, Wis.

“Most of my clients have family members who are willing and able to assist in keeping them out of institutional care,” Haubrich explains. “In those cases, the most valuable asset is cash, not insurance. Having that cash will allow the family to be unconstrained by policy limitations that exclude payments to family members and unlicensed service providers.”

The flipside of this argument is that having long-term-care insurance alleviates the pressure on a spouse or family member to be the primary caregiver, says Don R. Campfield, the national sales director of Guardian’s long-term-care division. “This shifts the emotional burden,” he adds.

This is an interesting argument. My parents bought long term health care (LTHC) years ago because they did not want to be a burden. However, when they bought it people were not living as long. I have continually asked them to review the policy but they are convinced that it will meet their needs. Any of you who have looked into such policies know that they are expensive and they do not cover the length of time that many people spend with different illnesses and conditions. In an article in February, Forbes.com discussed some of the options for LTHC. I would love to hear your perspective on what policies and companies seemed best for your purposes.

Next Page »