Unique Employment Opportunity: Once-In-A-Lifetime position for a talented caregiver.
Need to be caring and compassionate at all times.
Hours are all day, everyday.
Multitasking necessary.
Pay is negligible and appreciation minimal.
Duties will be exhausting, challenging, stress related and sometimes rewarding.
Must be able to interact with all types of personalities as well as various family dynamics.
Position needs to be filled immediately.
No application necessary.
How many of us would answer a job description of this type? Normally, we would run as fast as we could the other way, but in a family caregiving situation, we have no choice but to respond and "step up to the plate.
" Because of the boomer explosion, family caregiving is going to be the job of the future.
When the boomers started to turn 65 on 1/1/11 at the rate of around 10,000 per day, the need for family caregivers also started rising.
Couple that with the fact that Alzheimer's disease is also increasing by leaps and bounds and you get a rising need for an expanding caregiving community.
Sadly, there are no universal tutorials for caregivers to prepare themselves for the job.
This is due to the fact that almost every caregiving experience is unique unto itself.
No situation is normal, no two families have the same outlook or personalities.
Caregivers are given no choice butto becomepioneers and blaze a trail through uncharted territories without a map, a trail guide or even a "clue.
" Numerous articles, books, newsletters, websites and magazines offervarious solutions for both the novice caregiver and the experienced one.
Without these tools, caregivers would have floundered without anyone throwing them a lifeline.
Even with these resources, some are still "splashing around," waiting for their particular challenge to be recognized and addressed.
Caregiving, by and large, is practiced by self-sacrificing, compassionate family members who are caring for a family member who at one time cared for them and wouldn't have it any other way.
However, now that their roles are reversed, they find that it becomes increasingly difficult when physical demands or the emotional turmoil affects their own personal health and well-being as well as their family life..
Advising family caregivers to get additional, outside help for their family member who needs care is like trying to "nail JelloTM to a tree" - an impossible task.
Anyone who is foolish enough to try it will come away from the experience with a flattened forehead caused by continually beating their head against a wall.
The only thing that you can do is step back, support them in their choice, be there with broad shoulders and a "zipped" lip, and hold them up when THEY start to falter.
There are a few common guidelines that caregivers and their family members need to be aware of: 1.
It is OK to cry and feel frustrated.
You cannot turn back time, nor can you affect a miracle cure.
All that is required of you is the attempt to cope and showyour care, concern and compassion.
2.
Realise that you are not alone.
There are others just standing in the wings, waiting to support you, but because you sometimes think that you are the only one who can do this particular job, they are unwilling to intervene because they are unsure of their reception.
3.
Every minute you care for someone else, is a minute that you take away from some other area or some other person in your life, maybe a spouse or children, a hobby or activity, or most importantly - yourself.
Be selfish enough to "grab" those minutes back before other aspects of your life suffer needlessly.
4.
Your strength will come from within, but be aware that each and every one of us has a "breaking point.
" Nurture the moments of relaxation and recharge your inner self regularly and religiously.
5.
Take care of your health.
This is vital.
Someone important is counting on you to care for yourself so that you can care for them.
6.
Educate yourself on all of the different aspects of caregiving.
What works for others may or may not work in your situation, but knowing what to try will save hours of precious time.
Information abounds on the internet on this subject, or the library has volumes and volumes dealing with this also.
7.
Finally, and most importantly, change your attitude and mindset about the condition of the person you are caring for.
They didn't ask for the disease or the impairment that they are suffering from.
Don't think of them as "having" the disease.
The disease or impairment "has" them.
Neither one of you has control over the condition, but you do have control over the attitude that accompanies it.
Caregivers have a gift and a talent that "shines" through for others to see and appreciate.
Thanks may not be forthcoming from either the family member that you are caring for, or from other outlying family members, but rest assured that your job, your compassion and your strength is recognized and appreciated.
You are special, you are invaluable and you are envied.
THANK YOU!!!
Need to be caring and compassionate at all times.
Hours are all day, everyday.
Multitasking necessary.
Pay is negligible and appreciation minimal.
Duties will be exhausting, challenging, stress related and sometimes rewarding.
Must be able to interact with all types of personalities as well as various family dynamics.
Position needs to be filled immediately.
No application necessary.
How many of us would answer a job description of this type? Normally, we would run as fast as we could the other way, but in a family caregiving situation, we have no choice but to respond and "step up to the plate.
" Because of the boomer explosion, family caregiving is going to be the job of the future.
When the boomers started to turn 65 on 1/1/11 at the rate of around 10,000 per day, the need for family caregivers also started rising.
Couple that with the fact that Alzheimer's disease is also increasing by leaps and bounds and you get a rising need for an expanding caregiving community.
Sadly, there are no universal tutorials for caregivers to prepare themselves for the job.
This is due to the fact that almost every caregiving experience is unique unto itself.
No situation is normal, no two families have the same outlook or personalities.
Caregivers are given no choice butto becomepioneers and blaze a trail through uncharted territories without a map, a trail guide or even a "clue.
" Numerous articles, books, newsletters, websites and magazines offervarious solutions for both the novice caregiver and the experienced one.
Without these tools, caregivers would have floundered without anyone throwing them a lifeline.
Even with these resources, some are still "splashing around," waiting for their particular challenge to be recognized and addressed.
Caregiving, by and large, is practiced by self-sacrificing, compassionate family members who are caring for a family member who at one time cared for them and wouldn't have it any other way.
However, now that their roles are reversed, they find that it becomes increasingly difficult when physical demands or the emotional turmoil affects their own personal health and well-being as well as their family life..
Advising family caregivers to get additional, outside help for their family member who needs care is like trying to "nail JelloTM to a tree" - an impossible task.
Anyone who is foolish enough to try it will come away from the experience with a flattened forehead caused by continually beating their head against a wall.
The only thing that you can do is step back, support them in their choice, be there with broad shoulders and a "zipped" lip, and hold them up when THEY start to falter.
There are a few common guidelines that caregivers and their family members need to be aware of: 1.
It is OK to cry and feel frustrated.
You cannot turn back time, nor can you affect a miracle cure.
All that is required of you is the attempt to cope and showyour care, concern and compassion.
2.
Realise that you are not alone.
There are others just standing in the wings, waiting to support you, but because you sometimes think that you are the only one who can do this particular job, they are unwilling to intervene because they are unsure of their reception.
3.
Every minute you care for someone else, is a minute that you take away from some other area or some other person in your life, maybe a spouse or children, a hobby or activity, or most importantly - yourself.
Be selfish enough to "grab" those minutes back before other aspects of your life suffer needlessly.
4.
Your strength will come from within, but be aware that each and every one of us has a "breaking point.
" Nurture the moments of relaxation and recharge your inner self regularly and religiously.
5.
Take care of your health.
This is vital.
Someone important is counting on you to care for yourself so that you can care for them.
6.
Educate yourself on all of the different aspects of caregiving.
What works for others may or may not work in your situation, but knowing what to try will save hours of precious time.
Information abounds on the internet on this subject, or the library has volumes and volumes dealing with this also.
7.
Finally, and most importantly, change your attitude and mindset about the condition of the person you are caring for.
They didn't ask for the disease or the impairment that they are suffering from.
Don't think of them as "having" the disease.
The disease or impairment "has" them.
Neither one of you has control over the condition, but you do have control over the attitude that accompanies it.
Caregivers have a gift and a talent that "shines" through for others to see and appreciate.
Thanks may not be forthcoming from either the family member that you are caring for, or from other outlying family members, but rest assured that your job, your compassion and your strength is recognized and appreciated.
You are special, you are invaluable and you are envied.
THANK YOU!!!
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