November is National Family Caregivers Month. Why do we need a special month to recognize and appreciate family caregivers?
Family Caregivers are the invisible link in our health care system.
Christine is an 80-year-old retired lawyer. She had a stroke last year and is struggling to regain her independence. She lives alone in a beautiful apartment that she and her husband decorated with mementoes from their years of travelling together. He died while she was in the hospital and their daughter lives on the other side of the country caring for a grandchild with special needs. She is now home with 24-hour care. There is no one person who cares about her, who can be available 24 hours a day who can intervene and be her advocate. She can outsource some of the discrete tasks a family caregiver does, but it is difficult if not impossible to replace a family caregiver who loves and cares about the person needing care and has a holistic understanding of who they are and what they need.
It is not easy being a family caregiver. It usually happens gradually. If one partner no longer is comfortable, driving at night it is natural for the other to start to take on the night driving. The transition between picking up medication at the pharmacy and setting up the pillbox may be next. When someone falls, of course, a person in the same household will try to help them up, and if that is not possible call a neighbor or even 911 to get help. Task after task, incident after incident, occasional caregiving changes into a constant that is part of the fabric of their shared life together.
Medical care focuses on the needs of the patient. The working assumption, no questions asked, is that a family member exists and will be available to help and support the patient. 17-35% of all caregivers report their health as fair to poor. The longer someone is a caregiver, the more likely they are to say their health has been impacted. Caregivers caring for someone with dementia also report worst health outcomes. 40-70% of spousal caregivers suffer from depression. Family caregivers need help and support. We need to appreciate the amount of care they provide and make sure their needs are being met and they are not taken for granted. JFS Allies in Aging can work with caregivers and their family to put a support plan in place.
Let us take the time to appreciate and acknowledge the importance of family caregivers in our lives.
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