I was listening to my favorite radio show this morning. The current had another episode on senior care. Today they were focusing on the care giver.
Since senior health is unpredictable, setting up a care giver system is difficult .
A large percentage of caregivers are spouses. In that situation you have elderly person looking after an elderly person. The care giver starts out behind the game. Many of the elderly care givers are soon unable to give the care needed. In some cases the caregiver dies before the person being cared for.
One care giver interviewed told the story of looking after her husband who had Alzheimer's . To say the least it was a challenge.
Many care givers are foreign workers. They are from another culture and have difficulty understanding looking after the elderly as they don't really understand the needs.
Some training programs have been developed to help care givers understand the situation .better.
A training program has been developed to put the care giver in a similar situation as an elderly person. A system of straps are used to make a person stoop, so they cannot look up very well. It takes no time for the trainee to get it that balance is a real issue. Eye shades are used to get people to understand what limited vision is like. The trainee goes through a number of situations to be able to better understand looking after the elderly.
Listening to the stories and professional comments has certainly opened my eyes on care giving.
The program I listened to is called the current and was on CBC radio on Mar . 28 at 8:30 AM.
I'll have to look up that episode of The Current. What a good approach to helping people understand how it feels to be an older person with health problems - the problems many, if not all, of us will suffer if we live long enough. I am not sure if it's a matter of foreign workers not understanding the needs of the elderly, or simply that many foreign workers go into caregiving because it's an area where they can more easily get a job since we are so short on caregivers in Canada. Their talents may not lie in the area in which jobs are available. I have seen very good foreign workers and Canadian-born workers, and I have seen not very good workers in both categories. It's more about natural empathy and personal strengths in their interactions with vulnerable people that counts. But if we can help people to understand what it's like to be one of those vulnerable people, perhaps we can train empathy into the workforce.
ReplyDeleteI found out that many different groups (nurses) take the training in how the elderly feel. You've had your own experience in this and it was difficult to deal with the irrational.
DeleteThat sounds like a very interesting interview.
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to find it on the current.
DeleteExperience is a way to develop understanding and empathy.
ReplyDeleteIt's an excellent training program.
DeleteRed, it’s hard for anyone who hasn’t had to do caregiving to appreciate how difficult the job is. Caregiving is important … thanks for sharing your post. John
ReplyDeleteThe irrationality of some situations is difficult to deal with.
DeleteThat sounds so interesting. People, especially younger people, never imagine that they will be in the position of being less able or needing help. The more we understand, the better able we are to help.
ReplyDeleteMany young people have little exposure to the elderly. My grandfather lived with us.
DeleteMy Mom cared for my Dad who had Alzheimer's until she broke her back and they got caregivers in for awhile to help them out. My siblings and I pitched in but it wasn't enough. We eventually had to move Mom and Dad to assisted living to get them the help they needed. People without the financial resources cannot do that. There are so many of us old people that I don't know how we will be managed. I just hope to die in my sleep before I get to be a problem for my children.
ReplyDeleteMany of us do not have children nearby. We have a problem of how to set things up.
DeleteCreating the understanding of a senior’s issues is a great start to training care givers.
ReplyDeleteI found out that this training is done with other groups of care givers.
DeleteIt's a difficult task. Some aliments permit home health aides to be covered here. Not sure what benefits are available in Canada. There's no easy answer unless you have lots of money. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteWe do have home care available. Senior residences can be very pricy.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt takes a special person to be a caregiver, just the training how to handle the various situations and health issues. Take care, have a great weekend.
Care givers should be highly trained and most today are untrained and poorly paid.
DeleteRed, High-5 to jenny_o for her comment. Perfectly said. John
ReplyDeleteYes, she too the time to provide some detail.
DeleteJohn, thank you - I think I may go on and on too much about this after my experiences with my mom, but I appreciate your kind comment.
DeleteElder care can be daunting at time, family support is very important!
ReplyDeleteIn this age family can live very far way.
DeleteThat shared experience care giver training sounds like a great thing.
ReplyDeleteSo far my care giving needs have been post surgery stuff and my husband has been very good at it. We are thinking about the time when we will need more.
We have been shopping the residences and care available. WE never know when we might need the extra care.
DeleteI've seen this training. It really helps to understand what people are going through.
ReplyDeleteApparently, it's very realistic.
DeleteThat sounds like a great program to listen to.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Current on CBC.
DeleteThere are virtual reality courses to help carers understand dementia. I think that would be very informative for me but it's only for people employed in the industry.
ReplyDeleteEvery bit of education helps
Yes, we need help to look after people when they are irrational.
DeleteI wish this country was more like some of the developing countries I have visited in which the elderly are taken care of by their kids and grandkids, no questions asked. It is just the way things are done. There aren't hired care givers or senior facilities with trained staff.
ReplyDeleteIt'll never happen here. Globalization has spread our families across the globe.
DeleteThe thing that bothers me the very most is the number of people who are taking care of people, providing custodial care only. To have someone there merely doing what needs to be done, ticking boxes, leaving at the end of their shift...it bothers me. Kindness and respect do matter. It is not just a list of chores than need to be done. It is a person who needs that help. I remember once, a caregiver said, "You cannot do your job properly if you let yourself get attached." Boggled my mind, because I didn't think the job could be done properly if you didn't. (To be clear, she said this because my client had died, and I was crying.)
ReplyDeleteMany care givers are very attached to the client . They are the good ones.
ReplyDeleteI guess that this show has special resonance for you and Jean as you have both reached a ripe old age and you're wondering about your next step after living for so long on Spencer Street. The time to act is right now. Don't leave it too long Keith.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting idea, using straps and eyeshades to imitate the effects of age. I hadn't heard of that.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Mexico back in the 80's I used to tune in the CBC on my shortwave radio. Great programs.
ReplyDelete