Caregiver Resources
The Caregiver Resource Library is a collection of blog posts and downloadable assets covering important topics that matter to caregivers. More content will be added regularly, so be sure to check in every so often!
Aging Issues
mericans are living longer than ever. Medical advances have resulted in unprecedented population growth over the last century. Although increased longevity is touted as a clear measure of success in modern health care, it can be accompanied by a range of challenging issues, such as disability and more demand for long-term care.
Everyone can get the blues from time to time, but real depression needs to be monitored and treated. The truth is, seniors can fall into depression for many reasons: losing a loved one, dealing with an illness, medications, or just the aging process in general. With that in mind, here are some tips for caregivers to assist with elderly depression care.
Today, the internet provides new ways to interact with the world through social media, online shopping, digital entertainment, and news websites. With the advent of smartphones and tablets, making the transition to a digital lifestyle is easier than ever. However, for seniors who haven’t spent their lives using these technologies, it can be difficult to know how the internet can be useful for them.
If you’re a man past the age of sixty, it’s almost inevitable that you will need to deal with prostate issues. These can range from an enlarged prostate to prostate cancer, but one does not necessarily lead to the other. With that in mind, it is important for senior men and caregivers to know the difference and understand the stages, treatments, and emotional impact of prostate cancer.
Caregiver Issues
Caregiving is a physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding job. Whether you are a professional caregiver or a non-paid family caregiver, the toll it takes on your own well-being can be significant. In fact, caregivers often develop health problems of their own. One of which is alcohol or substance abuse.
There’s no question that you want to be there for your loved one when they need your help, but the truth is, caregiver burnout can affect family relationships. It’s important to know that needing help or considering respite care to help you manage your loved one’s needs doesn’t make you a bad caregiver.
The dictionary defines guilt as a feeling of having done something wrong or having failed in an obligation. If you have intentionally inflicted physical or emotional pain on another person, you should feel guilty. That’s an appropriate emotional response.
It helps to know that anger is a normal and predictable response to situations and events over which we have little or no control. And it’s important to remember that no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to control the progression of a disease or the behavior of other people.
Too often when a person is a caregiver all thought and energy goes to the patient, and little is left over for the one giving their time and energy taking care of them. For some, this can lead to feelings of stress and a sense of forgetting who they are as a person. Let’s take a look at the stress of caregiving.
Brain Damage
One of the most difficult aspects of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is dealing with the gradual breakdown in communication. Miscommunications are frustrating — for both the person struggling with the disease and the caregiver looking after a person with Alzheimer’s.
One of the most difficult aspects of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is dealing with the gradual breakdown in communication. Miscommunications are frustrating — for both the person struggling with the disease and the caregiver looking after a person with Alzheimer’s.