Caring for a family member may be a joyful and rewarding experience. In-home care also provides peace of mind that your loved one is being adequately cared for and allows them to remain free for as long as feasible. However, there are other practical considerations to make before committing to becoming a family caregiver. This information was developed to assist you to understand what you need to know before entering into this sort of arrangement.
Every year, we receive hundreds of calls from friends and family asking, “How to become a certified caregiver for a family member?” and "How can I get paid to care?" A degree or license is not required for a volunteer family caregiver. College training and certification are essential if you wish to work as a medical caregiver. To become a caregiver for a family member, they must first accept your assistance.
These caregivers aren't looking for a handout; they're just trying to make ends meet while devoting their time to caregiving. Unfortunately, relatively few organizations pay family members or friends to provide care regularly. Having said that, there are other factors to consider while taking on this task.
Here are some things you should think about before becoming a caregiver:
To put it simply, a caregiver is a person who attends to the needs and assists a person whose illness, disability, or injury causes either short or long-term limitations. The most common example of a professional caregiver is a nurse trained to administer care for patients in a hospital.
However, many caregivers do not necessarily need all the education requirements and training to assume a caregiving role. For example, family caregivers – usually close friends or family members – play an important role in healthcare despite not having professional qualifications.
To demonstrate the significance of a family caregiver, we can compare healthcare to a tricycle, with the care recipient being represented by the single front wheel. Family caregivers and professional caregivers (such as doctors and nurses) make up the two back wheels that give support and stability to the front wheel. All three wheels are needed to make up an effective strategy and provide a smooth ride to recovery.
Family caregivers can therefore be seen as an extension of the healthcare system, with their own set of duties to the care recipient, including assistance with daily tasks, following up with therapy programs, and maintaining their loved one’s quality of life. They also act as a primary source of vital information about the patient as they are able to observe them on a daily basis.
Often, family caregivers provide care over several years, and some may be tasked with providing care for multiple family members at once. They may be caring for a parent, spouse or child, or even a close friend, extended family relative, or neighbor.
Some common duties include:
Becoming a caregiver for a family member can be challenging, especially if you have not had prior training. However, with the right resources and support, you should be able to provide quality, effective care to your loved ones without compromising your own health. In fact, despite its difficulties, caregiving can be a thoroughly rewarding experience as well.
If you are new to caregiving, you may find it helpful to:
Oftentimes, family members assume the caregiver role after a loved one has been discharged from the hospital. Before the patient can come home, however, the caregiver will have to prepare the house to ensure that it is safe and easy to move around in. It is likely that you will need to move some items and furniture around to accommodate your loved one. If they are going to be using a wheelchair, the home should have ample space and suitable wheelchair-accessible arrangements. It is crucial to keep the care recipient’s environment comfortable so that they can focus on recuperating.
Accessibility is the most important factor for an outpatient. You need your home to be organized in a way where everything they require is within easy reach. For example, move their bed to the ground floor of your home and situate it in a location where it is easy for your loved one to access the bathroom. Keep frequently-used items such as water bottles, cellphones, and cutlery in areas that do not require stretching to get to. Ensure that your home is readily stocked with groceries, toilet paper, and bath supplies so that you are fully prepared to take on the day.
Caring for a recovering loved one can be a full-time job. If you are unable to provide the necessary attention and assistance on your own, you may want to consider enlisting the help of other family members, a professional caregiver, or reaching out to your healthcare provider.
Having to care for a family member can be a tough time, especially when your loved one is experiencing a particularly debilitating condition. Not only will you be busy running around attending to the care recipient’s needs, but you may also be plagued with worry over their illness or disability. It is important that you do not sacrifice your own health and well-being to provide care; neither of you will benefit from that.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when becoming a caregiver for a family member:
As mentioned above, caregiving can invoke an array of difficult emotions. These include fear, guilt, anger, and resentment, all of which can have a negative impact on your mental health in the long run. Instead of beating yourself up over or running away from these feelings, you need to acknowledge and accept them. Understand that such feelings do not mean that you do not love your family member; it is only human to feel frustrated and helpless during a difficult period. Some common feelings are:
When you are experiencing strong, negative emotions like these, it is easy to become upset or feel hopeless. However, bottling them up will only allow them to fester. Instead, find someone you trust and talk to them about it. A listening ear can work wonders for handling upsetting emotions.
Even as the primary caregiver, it is impossible to accomplish everything on your own. Sometimes, you may need to consider enlisting help from friends and other family members, or even professional care providers. Attempting to handle everything alone may become overwhelming and lead to burnout, which is completely detrimental to what you set out to do.
Aside from friends and family, you can consider searching for help from these outlets as well:
Before you ask for help, you should have a firm grasp of your loved one’s needs. Start organizing a detailed list of care requirements, including your daily caregiving tasks. Next, compare this list against your situation and capabilities to uncover which activities you can manage and which you may require help with.
Set up a meeting with the people who have agreed to assist you in your caregiving role. Once you are sure of your group of helpers, assign each person particular responsibilities based on their skills or interests, and discuss how they can complement each other – remember, the goal is to work as a team.
When approached correctly, caregiving can become a meaningful and pleasing experience for both the caregiver and care recipient. It is important to stay relaxed and composed. Take some time every day to connect with the person you are caring for as this can trigger hormones that improve mood, reduce stress, and even boost your physical health.
During this time, remove all distractions such as a running television or ringing phone. Keep eye contact if possible, and establish some form of physical contact such as holding their hand. Talk in a soothing voice. Connecting with someone on this level often provides comfort and open communication for both parties, something that helps ease physical and mental tension.
When it comes to caregiving, it is easy to become engrossed in putting your care recipient’s needs first and forget to prioritize yourself. However, a keen understanding of your own limits would be beneficial for everyone involved; what are you capable of doing, what is putting overwhelming strain on your mental or physical well-being and what do you need assistance with? Are your own needs being met or neglected? These include important human functions such as eating and sleeping enough, or even the ability to take a break and socialize with people other than your care recipient.
Prolonged caregiving under circumstances that are less than ideal can easily cause you to become burned out or distracted and limit your ability to provide effective care or connect with your loved one. Hence, caregivers must be also caring for themselves .
Caring families may, on occasion, get financial assistance for specific objectives, such as respite care or the purchase of goods and services, and in certain situations, to pay for caregiving. In certain areas, family members are paid to give care to folks receiving Medicaid (government health insurance for low-income people – this program may be known differently in your state). There are further programs available in a few states for folks who do not qualify for Medicaid. NOTE: The qualifying requirements for these programs vary greatly.
Use FCA's Service by State feature to locate services in your state. Look under the "Caregiver Compensation" section for agencies that offer programs that allow the care recipient to employ a family member to care for them.
Our local Area Agency on Aging may be able to tell you if your state's Medicaid program may pay a family member to care for a Medicaid beneficiary. Your Area Agency on Aging also oversees a federally funded program for family caregivers that can assist relieve the financial burden of caring for someone aged 60 and older, or under 60 with Alzheimer's disease or similar diseases. Information and help; counseling and support groups; education and training; respite care to give you a break; and extra services, such as the purchase of consumable supplies, emergency response systems, and home adaptations, are all available through the program. To identify your local Area Agency on Aging, go to the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) and enter your city and state, or zip code.
Your state may have extra programs to assist family caregivers. The American Elder Care Research Organization maintains a list of state Medicaid and non-Medicaid programs that give consumer guidance. (With consumer guidance, the Medicaid user can choose who will be paid, even a family member.) You may also want to use their Paid Caregiver Program Locator to find prospective programs.
Disease-specific organizations, such as CancerCare, may provide grants or other financial support to patients and family carers. For additional information on these groups, go to FCA's Family Care Navigator and choose Disease-Specific Organizations.
CWI Medical specializes in home health care products supplier, particularly in health and wellness products. We also carry caregiving products, supplies, and equipment to assist caregivers and care receivers to live more comfortably.
We looked for aids to assist caretakers in washing, feeding, clothing, situating, and moving the person being cared for.
Do you ever feel powerless when caring for someone in your home? To make in-home care simpler, we supply gait belts, full electric beds, stethoscopes, pump kits, heavy-duty sliding transfer benches, diapers, and other adaptive equipment.
Using the correct handicap equipment can frequently help a person become less reliant or require less support from their caregiver. There are many types of assistance equipment available to help individuals function better, ranging from weighted dining utensils to foldable sliding transfer bath seats.
Our customer service team has undergone intensive professional training so that they are always ready to walk you through your medical problems and find a solution. All orders are shipped out as soon as possible in discreet packaging. We endeavor to please our consumers by providing high-quality items, competent service, and reasonable prices.
For more information on our caregiver products or other medical and health care products, you may contact our customer service team at 1-631-753-8390.
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