National week draws focus to caregivers
October 1, 1997 3 minutes read
National week draws focus to caregivers
Provides opportunity to meet needs of caregivers
Patient education managers understand the difficulties non-medical caregivers have caring for sick family members. After all, they have created the written materials and the programs to teach the caregivers the skills they need. National Family Caregivers Week, slated for Nov. 23-29, provides the opportunity to raise the awareness of other health care professionals and the public about caregiving issues and let family caregivers know how much they are valued and appreciated, says Suzanne Mintz, president and co-founder of National Family Caregivers Association in Kensington, MD.
The association, which sponsors the event, has created several suggestions for ways health care organizations can participate. They include:
• Honor caregivers in your community by sponsoring a prize drawing for respite time, a dinner out, free handyman services, or help with transportation.
Many local businesses would be glad to donate a product or service because the goodwill gesture is a positive form of publicity, says Mintz. Place entry forms and collection boxes in hospital and clinic waiting rooms, and publish the form in the hospital’s newsletter that markets outreach classes and support group meetings.
• Put together a resource guide for your community so family caregivers know who to call for services or advice.
You’ll want to list agencies that provide meal deliveries to seniors, respite care, medical equipment, transportation, and help with housekeeping and other chores, and support groups or counseling. To find out what is available in your community, contact the social work department at your hospital, the local health department, your local office on aging, home care agencies, and local chapters of organizations that target diseases where family caregivers are often needed, such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
• Start a support group for caregivers.
The group can be marketed through your hospital’s social work and rehabilitation departments where staff often come in contact with caregivers and in the hospital newsletter used to market outreach programs. Also, contact local organizations for different chronic conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease because they often have support groups that focus on their particular disease but not for caregivers in general.
• Develop a program to educate and sensitize health care professionals to the needs of family caregivers.
They can be offered as regular inservices to all disciplines who teach patients and caregivers. Teach them to recognize the symptoms of "caregiver burnout" which include high stress levels, depression, anxiety, loss of weight, and listlessness.
• Deliver Thanksgiving dinner to homebound caregiving families.
Local restaurants often are willing to donate to charitable events during the holidays.
• Host a Family Caregivers Day with workshops and resource information.
This can be a one day event with several workshops offered on topics such as basic nursing skills or legal issues. Another concept that works well is a product fair where vendors of items useful to caregivers would set up tables. "There are so many products available to make life easier for the caregiver such as portable ramps and devices that extend the hinges of a door a couple of inches so a wheelchair can fit through," says Mintz.
• Put together a coalition of organizations to establish a volunteer network that can help caregivers in your community.
For example, several churches can work together to establish a respite program where church members would go to a home and sit with the patient while the caregiver completed errands. A Boy Scout troop might be interested in volunteering time to mow lawns and shovel snow for elderly caregivers, says Mintz.
• Let family caregivers know that you acknowledge their contribution.
Hang posters in your windows and corridors for National Family Caregivers Week, and ask staff to wear buttons.
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