The Caregiver's Silent Burden

My healthy and energetic husband, business partner and best friend had a heart attack at 52. We were still reeling from the affects of 9/11 on our psyches and our business, which needed our undivided attention six days a week. Our two sons were still at home, one homeschooled and one in high school, and our lives were packed full. Life has a way of throwing us curves when we least expect it and true to form, our world was quite suddenly thrown into chaos.

I operated on adrenaline for the first few days and weeks as I took on the full responsibility of our business and livelihood, the care of our children and the care of my husband. We do what we have to do, but churning relentlessly beneath the surface was the heartbreak, the shock, the fear, the loneliness of loss. The emotional ramifications were profound and lasting. He is alive and well, but on so many levels this experienced rocked my world.

Every day women and men across generations and the socio-economic landscape are faced with the difficult decisions and responsibilities inherent in the daily care of a sick or aging loved one. Caring for aging parents is a much talked about concern among adult children, but whether one is caring for a parent, a spouse, or a seriously ill or disabled child, the silent burden of the caregiver is the same. It is profound and constant.

In the midst of the extreme stress and myriad responsibilities of caring for a loved one, family caregivers are coping with one of life's most difficult emotions, that of grief and loss. A woman caring for her husband after a stroke or a heart attack, is not only picking up the slack around the house, shouldering financial responsibilities, and the day-to-day care of her spouse, she is doing so in the midst of a very real and very personal life crisis. She has suddenly lost the emotional and practical support of perhaps her most significant relationship, even if only temporarily. Every morning she looks death in the face and consciously or unconsciously wrestles with the ramifications of losing her loved one, her dreams, and her life as she knew it.

The events leading up to a caregiving situation often occur unexpectedly and without warning. There is no time for preparation. Everything is fine until one day it isn't. The change is immediate and lasting. How is one to keep his/her head above water at such a time?

So often we talk about the role of "caregiver" as if it were a hat we put on, a "temporary" upheaval in our schedules, but it is so much more than that. The grief, the loss of normalcy, not only to our life but to our relationships, lies buried beneath the surface of daily demands. The painful emotions are squelched and shoved aside by necessity and perhaps more likely, by guilt. After all, we reason, we are alive and well. Our needs are not as important as our loved ones. It's not his fault he can't be there for me. There is no time to fall apart, to grieve, or to adjust. It must wait.

When we talk about caregiver burnout, compassion fatigue or the stress of caretaking in general, perhaps the most important dimension to address is that of the emotional upheaval, the undertaking of the grieving process that often begins in earnest and lies buried in silence far too long. The caregiver needs support, compassion and guidance with the silent pain as much, if not more, than they need assistance with practical matters. By the time we move into the caregiving role, most of us are adept at problem solving and decision-making. Our real difficulty more likely rests in making sense of and coming to terms with loss.

Article c/o Dorothy Sanders
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorothy-sander/the-caregivers-silent-bur_b_1570584.html

Longevity

Home Care an Integral Part of the Care Continuum for Seniors With Dementia

Many seniors who are aging at home only need the help of paid non-medical workers. These workers assist with daily and weekly routines, which can include trips to the doctor, reminders to take the right medication at the right time, meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands, shopping, and even Alzheimer’s and dementia care.

The first ray of morning sunshine peeks through the curtain and grazes the edge of the bed to gently say "time to wake up." Birds sing from the tree branches right outside the large window looking out on the yard where the kids loved to run and play. A photo collage hangs on the wall beside the nightstand, testifying to a lifetime of memories. 

Home can be a place of comfort and familiarity in so many ways. Naturally, aging adults want to continue living in their own homes, even as their care needs change. According to a Home Instead Senior Care® network-commissioned research project titled the "Value of Caregiving at Home" study, 90 percent of seniors say they want to age in their homes for as long as possible. For those experiencing memory loss as a result of Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, remaining in familiar surroundings is especially helpful in managing the disease.


The "Value of Caregiving at Home" study shows that not only are in-home care services beneficial to individuals with dementia, but they may be an integral part of the entire senior care continuum.


More specifically, the research demonstrates that for these older adults, paid in-home non-medical care offers several important benefits:
It can fit seamlessly into a regimen that would otherwise consist of more formal clinical care—especially for those who are older or who need more-intensive levels of care.
It is associated with a lower incidence of doctor visits (between 28 and 47 percent fewer, depending on dementia severity) and hospitalization (half or more less likely), potentially saving healthcare dollars and improving the quality of seniors' lives.
It results in more hours of care—and in most instances, better care.


In addition, the use of in-home care for older adults helps relieve the pressure on the country's resource-strapped hospitals and nursing homes. As the Boomer population ages, the number of individuals age 65 and older with Alzheimer's will sharply increase, reaching a staggering 13.5 million Americans by 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Association, and 1.1 million Canadians by 2038, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.


Many seniors who are aging at home only need the help of paid non-medical workers. These workers assist with daily and weekly routines, which can include trips to the doctor, reminders to take the right medication at the right time, meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands, shopping, and even Alzheimer's and dementia care. The result is companionship that allows seniors to feel safe and independent while they age in place in the home they've lived in for years.


For more information about the Home Instead Senior Care network's research findings, view the Paid In-Home Care: Benefitting Those with Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia whitepaper.






More info:http://www.caregiverstress.com/alzheimers-dementia/home-care-integral-dementia/

A Surprising Number of People with Alzheimer’s Disease Live Alone: More Businesses Stepping In to Keep Seniors With Alzheimer’s Safe at Home

The Alzheimer’s Association reports that nearly half of those over age 85 have Alzheimer’s disease, an incurable condition that robs seniors of their minds and eventually their lives. What’s more, an estimated 60 to 70 percent of those with Alzheimer’s disease live alone, according to the Association. With a generation of baby boomers rapidly moving into the senior ranks, more resources than ever will be needed to help those with this disease remain safely at home. The Home Instead Senior Care®network is one organization that has stepped up to the plate with a unique approach to help family caregivers manage the challenges of the disease, allowing more older adults than ever to stay home longer. The specialized training also is helping to grow businesses that can meet the changing needs of an aging society.

Omaha, NE (PRWEB) May 31, 2012

The Alzheimer’s Association reports that nearly half of those over age 85 have Alzheimer’s disease, an incurable condition that robs seniors of their minds and eventually their lives. What’s more, an estimated 60 to 70 percent of those with Alzheimer’s disease live alone, according to the Association. With a generation of baby boomers rapidly moving into the senior ranks, more resources than ever will be needed to help those with this disease remain safely at home. The Home Instead Senior Care® network is one organization that has stepped up to the plate with a unique approach to help family caregivers manage the challenges of the disease, allowing more older adults than ever to stay home longer. The specialized training also is helping to grow businesses that can meet the changing needs of an aging society.

With 60 percent of her clientele suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Home Instead Senior Care® franchise owner Cathy Murphy recognizes the signs. “The issues that may impact seniors in the early stages of the disease include depression and isolation,” she said. “Soon they might confuse their medications and suffer from lack of nutritious meals followed by poor hygiene. Many family caregivers of these loved ones try to make excuses until the symptoms of Alzheimer’s can no longer be ignored.”

In the past, that’s usually when families had to face the difficult truth that their loved ones no longer could live at home. However, there now exists a marketplace that features memory aids, such as clocks with large faces or notice boards for messages, equipment for eating and drinking, safety devices such as gas detectors and water-level alerts, and mobility aids such as walking frames and wheelchairs.

What’s more the corporate office of Home Instead, Inc., franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care network which includes Murphy’s franchise office and is based in Omaha, Neb., has recently rolled out a unique training approach to help family caregivers manage some of the more difficult behaviors of Alzheimer’s disease such as anger, aggression and wandering at home.

There are good reasons to keep seniors with Alzheimer’s disease at home, says Murphy, whose 10-year-old Home Instead Senior Care San Francisco franchise helps older adults stay independent by providing non-medical care and companionship such as meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands and shopping. “In the early to mid stages of Alzheimer’s disease seniors are more comfortable in familiar surroundings and more confident they are maintaining some independence in their own homes where they are more accessible to family.”

The network’s Alzheimer’s or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging through Research and Education(SM) Training Program employs a technique called “Capturing Life’s Journey®” that involves gathering stories and experiences about the senior to help caregivers manage challenging behaviors. Because people with Alzheimer’s disease have difficulty with short-term memory, the Capturing Life’s Journey approach taps into long-term memory to develop activities that can help seniors with the disease manage better.

Murphy is training her Home Instead CAREGivers(SM) in this approach and soon will make the training available free to family caregivers as well. In addition, she has brought in a geriatric social worker to work with her staff, her CAREGivers and clients in their homes to customize care plans.

“The professional community is surprised,” Murphy noted. “The feedback we’ve received is that this truly is different from anything they have ever seen.”

Kathleen McKay, North America Franchise Development Manager for Home Instead, Inc., said that businesses must be poised to respond to the needs of a rapidly expanding aging population. “Services that help older adults stay at home – where surveys typically say seniors want to remain – must be top of mind if the next generation of seniors has the resources they need to cope with the many changes of aging. A goal of Home Instead, Inc. is to ensure that at-home care and companionship franchises are available throughout North America so that no senior is without the help he or she needs to remain at home. Many opportunities still exist for business owners who want to be that resource.”

“From the demographics we’ve seen, the need for in-home senior care is going to explode,” Murphy said. “We must be prepared to educate and to provide quality care.”

ABOUT HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE

Founded in 1994 in Omaha by Lori and Paul Hogan, the Home Instead Senior Care® network is the world's largest provider of non-medical in-home care services for seniors, with more than 950 independently owned and operated franchises providing in excess of 45 million hours of care throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, South Korea, Finland, Austria, Italy, Puerto Rico and the Netherlands. Local Home Instead Senior Care offices employ more than 65,000 CAREGivers(SM) worldwide who provide basic support services – assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), personal care, medication reminders, meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands, incidental transportation and shopping – which enable seniors to live safely and comfortably in their own homes for as long as possible. In addition, CAREGivers are trained in the network’s groundbreaking Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging Through Research and Education(SM) Program to work with seniors who suffer from these conditions. This world class curriculum also is available free to family caregivers online or through local Home Instead Senior Care offices. At Home Instead Senior Care, it’s relationship before task, while continuing to provide superior quality service that enhances the lives of seniors everywhere.

Additional information about Home Instead Senior Care is available from Erin Albers, local PR and marketing director. Information about senior care business opportunities is available from the Home Instead multimedia brochure.

Erin Albers
Home Instead Senior Care
402-575-5969

Article c/o:
http://news.yahoo.com/surprising-number-people-alzheimer-disease-live-alone-more-070437677.html

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