Why We Need to Keep Caregivers
Healthy
Did you know that more than 22
million people, nationwide, care for chronically ill or aging family
members? You may be one of them.
Some caregivers provide care
to a frail parent or family member with a disability 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, by helping them to get up, dress in the morning, prepare
meals, get to medical appointments, participate in social activities and
care for bills. Other caregivers may not live with elderly parents or
family members who need help, but they worry about them or have varied
tasks, such as getting them to appointments, helping them manage bills or
checking in on them to make sure everything is okay. In either scenario,
caregiving can be exhausting and overwhelming.
In 2000, the U.S.
Administration on Aging established a national family caregiver support
program to care for caregivers and keep them healthy. Why is that so
important?
According to the
administration, family caregivers save taxpayers an estimated $45 to $94
billion per year that might otherwise be spent on paid, home-care staff.
Shirley Scott, of Fergus
Falls, is a trained LSS caregiver respite volunteer who visits three
elderly women who live nearby to provide a much-needed break for the adult
children who care for them. Shirley knows, firsthand, how tired and
overwhelmed caregivers can become. She, too, had cared for her own mother,
who had Alzheimer's disease, and a brother, with Down syndrome, before
they died.
"I wish there had been a
service like this for our family," she said.
Evelyn Swedberg, who turns 90
next April, loves the company. "It's made a different life entirely for
me," Evelyn said. "I had nothing to do before but sit in my corner
watching TV. That gets boring. Shirley comes quite often. We visit over
coffee, go for a drive, or do some baking. Shirley is quite a good cook!"
Her daughter, Susan Adelsman,
is grateful for the helping hand. "It's nice knowing there is another
person checking up on her and being a friend to my mom. Having a friendly
visitor cheers her up and helps me out, too."
Unfortunately, family
caregivers don't often see themselves as caregivers or recognize their
need for help. With all of the emotional demands, caregivers have higher
rates of depression, according to national statistics. The physical care
often required can also be particularly hard on older caregivers, who
represent over half of all caregivers nationally.
In fact, national statistics
indicate that older caregivers end up in institutional care settings more
often than those for whom they provide care. Caregivers tend to give so
much attention to a chronically ill family member that they end up
neglecting their own physical and psychological health.
The LSS Caregiver Respite
Service is now offered in 31 Minnesota counties. Caregivers are screened
and receive ongoing training and education to provide non-medical care in
homes. If you are a care-giving family in need of support, or would like
to be a volunteer caregiver, call Lutheran Social Service at 218/233-7521
for more information. Or visit
www.caregiversupportandrespite.org
