Caregiving is an Expanding Role
Caregiving may be new to you. You may not know what the job entails. Defining your mission is a good place to start. Even if you’re en experienced caregiver, you may want to rethink your mission.
There may be more to your caregiving job than you first realize. For example, your loved one may have been diagnosed with diabetes. Your spouse’s health may decline more quickly than anticipated. Caregiving is doubly difficult if you loved one has dementia. You need to know your mission and stay on task. Is your mission clear in your mind?
Define Your Mission
A caregiver’s basic mission is to protect and care for the ill person. Your mission statement may have a qualifier, such as “I will care for my loved one as long as I can.”
Why should you bother to think about your mission? Answering this question often leads to thoughts about family issues. A brother or sister may think they should be your loved one’s primary caregiver, but your home is better suited caregiving. You may be in a better financial position to care for a loved one. You may live in the same town as your loved one, whereas siblings live thousands of miles away, and becoming your loved one’s caregiver makes more sense. This decision also saves your loved one from an expensive, tiring move.
The Family Caregiver’s Guide Description:
Caring for a loved one at home. What’s really involved? And what does it mean for your family and future? Tens of millions of Americans have had these questions and more as they prepare for this unsettling yet necessary task. The Family Caregiver’s Guide fills in the gaps, connecting the dots between research and real life.
Drawing on the author’s extensive caregiving experience, this book provides strategies to care for your loved one, inside and out, as well as for yourself—including how to use your natural skills in your new role, and which skills you may need to add. You’ll discover how to set up your home for caregiving, including a safety checklist, equipment suggestions, and words you should know. And for those days that are more than a handful, you’ll find positive affirmations, a section on facing and accepting illness, and Smart Steps at the end of each chapter, in case you need guidance in a hurry. Caregiving has both rewards and challenges. But through it all, you’ll discover what’s most important—that caregiving is love in action.
Are you new to caregiving? Do you wonder if you’re up to the task? The Family Caregiver’s Guide by Harriet Hodgson answers these questions and more. Hodgson has cared for three generations of family members: her mother, who had stroke-induced dementia, her twin grandchildren, whose parents died from the injuries they received in separate car crashes, and is her disabled husband’s caregiver now. Based on nearly 19 years of caregiving experience and the latest research, Hodgson offers help in concise, clear words. You’ll find help here and you’ll find it fast.
