This article is based on the nine part special, “Aging in America: Perspectives from Psychological Science” published in May/June 2016 by American Psychologist.
Is Caregiving Really Different from Family Life?
There is no clear line between familial responsibilities and caregiving. More often than not, the role of a loving family member is simultaneously that of caregiver. This makes it difficult to distinguish the two roles despite the additional responsibilities of caregiving. According to the Pew Research Center, over 80% of Americans in 2010 felt obligated to care for parents and involved themselves in providing that care.
The caregiving obligation is one most people are happy to fulfill, and roughly 83% of caregivers view the experience as positive. Nevertheless, caregiving demands that family members renegotiate their roles and responsibilities as loved ones begin to depend differently upon one another.
Ambiguity about caregiving is generally one of the biggest hardships families face. Questions about your loved one’s true capabilities, the best care option, when to provide that help, and, perhaps most challenging, what role that loved one maintains in the family are all important and stressful questions for caregivers, care recipients, and the family as a whole. Complicating matters further, there is no good time to ask or answer these questions.
This means family members are pushed to find answers under time-sensitive conditions, disrupting decade-old patterns and roles to force new familial dynamics. As Professor Qualls points out, these pressures demand families enter into sensitive conversations about life and death in which they have very little experience and compel one another to divulge personal views.
As a Caregiver, Where Can I Find Help?
It is very important Caregivers take care of themselves as well. Luckily, there are plenty of resources for caregivers online, over the phone and in person including the Family Caregiver Alliance. These resources will offer your tips and aid you in locating local resources to help you help your loved one. As a caregiver, you are a loving and resilient type of person but that does not bar you from asking for help.
Though positive, caregiving is a stressful role and caregivers should be weary of the stress caregiving may add to their lives. An article published by American Psychologist suggests predictors of a caregiver’s stress level include: the caregiver’s appraisal of the burden of caregiving, use of specific coping styles, perceived mastery of caregiving, and informal social support. Unfortunately, to provide caregivers with the best coping techniques and tools as early as possible, we need more assessment research and funding.
Of what research has been conducted, the National Register of Evidence Based Programs and Practices has identified two effective caregiver intervention programs aimed at reducing the stresses of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia.
New York University Caregiver Intervention provides spousal caregivers with counseling and support. The intervention includes: two individual counseling sessions, four family counseling sessions with primary cg and selected members, encouragement to participate in local support groups after participation and ad hoc counseling by telephone to help caregivers and families with crises and changing conditions. The intervention generally resulted in caregivers’ improved physical health, reduced depression, increased social support, improved aspirations of care recipient and delays in institutionalizing their loved one.
The Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health II, or REACH II, utilized similar psychological training and support for adult caregivers to improve caregivers’ quality of life and reduce the prevalence of depression. Like NYU’s program, REACH II yielded hugely positive results, but lack of funding limits the impact of both programs.
So What Now?
The senior living industry needs to incorporate the entire family into the discussion of long-term care services. Too often do we take the toll on caregivers or the cloudiness of the senior care search for granted.
Searching for services to alleviate the responsibilities of caregivers and better loved one’s lives should support and strengthen a family, not drain their resources, patience, and energy. Integrated and user-friendly technology platforms like LivingPath can relieve some of the caregiver’s, and consequently family’s, stress by bringing the senior living industry to your fingertips without leaving your loved one’s side, stepping into the car, or picking up the phone. If you are ready to take the next step in caregiving, try LivingPath.com to find the right path for you, your loved one, and the whole family.
