Being a Caregiver

A family caregiver can be responsible for taking care of a child, a spouse, a parent, grandparent, any other family member or significant other. It can be in any combination that presents itself. It is very stressful and can take a toll on other family relationships, jobs and health. Caregivers have been known to predecease the ones they have been caring for. Though easier said than done, they must take care of themselves in order to take care of others.

Family relationships become strained because of the time not spent with the other family and friends. They may feel resentful of this. Children might feel that they are not being nurtured properly and begin to act out. The home might have to have some changes to accommodate the person being cared for. Wheelchair ramp, special bed, room changes, grab bars would change the look of a home.

Economics suffer due to loss of income from being unemployed or under employed. Advancements and raises might not come their way due to lack of focus at work. The family caregivers future might become more perilous because health insurance, pensions and social security depend on having a job. If you don't have a job because you are taking care of a family member, you probably wont have health insurance and worry about what if you need to see a doctor? Your pension and social security amounts are based on the length of work history. The less years of work, the less money you will receive when you retire. Woman tend to be in the vast majority when it comes to caregiving . They fare badly with pensions due in part to unequal pay from the start, staying home with young children and then leaving work to care for sick family members. The grim economics that we are facing in this country does not help.

It takes resources to care for someone. It takes time and money. There is no shame in trying to find out what help is available and utilizing it. This means help from other family, friends, private groups and the government. Every little bit helps. As you start looking and networking you might be surprised where you receive assistance from. Check with your state department of health to see what you qualify for. Most hospitals receive government funding and have a percentage of charitable cases, you can see if you or your loved one qualifies if necessary. In cases where you provide a substantial amount of support you may be able to claim it on your taxes.

Unfortunately in these hard economic times people are forgoing medical care due to money issues. Everything is not covered by insurance and most insurance have co-payments. Let the provider know and they might be able to help you and be mindful of any tests that are not really needed. They might be able to get the information they need in a less expensive way.

One of the most important thing to do is to be aware of what kind of coverage you have. Read your booklets and any literature you have so as not to be surprised. You want to know what type of care is covered and what is not.

No one is immortal so all of us including people who are assisting others as family caregivers need to have paperwork in order. There needs to be a list of locations of important documents like insurance, deeds, bank locations. And we need to have these four documents.

Will - Describes how you want your estate dealt with and distributed.

Durable Power of Attorney - Someone designated to make financial decisions if you cannot.

Living Will- They specifically say what type of health care you want. Will say what you want done or not done.

Health Care Proxy - Appoint someone who will decide health care issues you cannot. Make sure the person will be able to adhere to the decision if the time comes or is of similar mind set.

One of the more costly part of caregiving is medication. Medicine is expensive and sometimes seemingly arbitrary. Television and radio advertises to get you to buy the newest most expensive type of drug. There are older less expensive and generics. Research has shown that the effectiveness and side effect of certain drugs are the same but the prices are very different. Talk to your pharmacist, doctor and research your medications. You want to know if there is a reason you can't use a generic or older well researched one instead of the newer more expensive brand name. Mind you, a newer medicine may be an improvement on a older medication, you need to know. If they give you free samples, that can help in the short term but medications for chronic illnesses are taken long term and you need to get the prices in check. Using less expensive medicine will help delay getting into the Medicare donut hole where there is that gap in coverage.

Make sure you understand why a prescription medication is given. Question the M.D. about why he/she thinks it's the best. Sometimes what is prescribed by your doctor is off-label or unapproved and maybe not covered by insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Perhaps insurance covers it but it will be very expensive. I have spoken to my doctor concerning medication and after my input we decided on something more appropriate. There has been problems with marketing of certain drugs for uses that have not been fully studied when they have others that are available. Be an advocate, your input is important.

Falls are the leading cause of injury to older people. Falls can be very devastating and can cause death. You as family caregiver can help your loved one in prevention. There might be a need to have the surroundings changed and made safer. Try to do things that would make it less dangerous. Make sure there is proper lighting, even a night light for trip to the bathroom. Grab bars are helpful in the bathroom, no throw rugs or anything else that can be tripped over. Pick up anything that falls on the floor to prevent an accident. Make sure they always have on proper footwear and that their eyes have been checked and glasses are current prescription. Ask them if at any time they feel dizzy from medication or any other reason. Try to make sure they use their walker or cane if they need it.

What happens when the family caregiver isn't capable. You see this with elderly couples with one taking care of the other. You also see it with parents taking care of a disabled child. In both cases the one doing the care might have a change their health or mental status. Or they simply are unable to care for someone else due to on going mental or physical issues. Sometimes it isn't apparent right away, and the other family members might not want to interfere, feeling it's not their place. The caregiver might not want to give up their responsibility. Without intervention the consequences could be serious.

The person might not be able to mentally deal with someone with dementia, it is very stressful. The person might be too weak physically for taking care of someone who needs total care. The person might be incapable of understanding medication or what to do in an emergency. Abuse can be manifested and the dependent person could end up sicker or worse. As was mentioned before, the caregiver could end up hurting themselves, having a heart attack, stroke or dying.

The caregiver could have underlying mental illness which could aggravate the situation. It can be very sad that a sick elderly person being cared for by a relative with mental problems. Situations have happened where a relative moves into the elderly persons neat, clean house and due to OCD issues is a compulsive hoarder and maybe has squalor syndrome. The person fills up that house with junk and causes both of them to live in a squalid situation. This person might not take the elderly relative to their medical appointments or feed them properly. This makes for an unhealthy environment which could cost the relative her home and independence. The elder may not want to complain or take action due to fear of being placed in a nursing home.

The time might come where outside help is needed to care for a loved one when a family caregiver is unable. There are agencies that have workers of different levels. Some will just be companions and others would have to do more hands on as in washing, feeding and transferring them out of bed. Insurance might pay for some of it, medicaid or medicare might pay also. It might have to be paid for out of pocket. This would be one way to keep your family member at home.