Career professionals know how important support systems are in making a career change, looking for a job or making a personal transition. Becoming a family caregiver is a major transition that can affect both personal and work life.  From the perspective of a loved one being cared for, Gail Liebhaber courageously shares insights into building both internal and external sources of support. As caregivers, Leslie Dashew and Ruvin Liebhaber describe how they built external sources of support and give tips for caregivers in ways to coordinate caregiving responsibilities of the support team. Jacqueline Marcell and Pamela McLean discuss their personal experience with Dementia and Alzheimer’s and offer strategies for developing internal and external sources of support specific to these two illnesses. 

Frail elderly persons and other patients face significant challenges maneuvering through the healthcare system. Even when trying to make a medical appointment, hearing only an answering machine at the other end of the phone line can throw off an older adult, as well as the caregiver, who may prefer to schedule an appointment on the phone with a real person. During times of crisis and transition, barriers can impede communication or result in redundant or conflicting information that can create serious issues for patients, their caregivers and their families.

Too much of a burden is being placed on patients and their caregivers to initiate their own follow-up care when they often do not understand their own conditions or the complexities of the healthcare system.(Dvorak, M.L.)

Currently, the primary way family caregivers are supported is by professional healthcare providers (usually social workers and nurses) who offer long-term intervention. Many family caregivers are on their own and do not know how or choose to seek institutional support services. A much-needed role for Family Caregiver Counselors is short-term intervention and advocacy during periods of crisis and transition (i.e., move, hospital).

1-Day Introduction To Family Caregiving Counseling. Saturday, April 26, 2008, Napa, CA





3-Day: Family Caregiving Counseling Certificate Training. May 16, 17, 18, 2008. SF Bay Area.

Introduction

This special issue of the Career Planning and Adult Development Journal showcases the many ways people go about caregiving. To enhance the knowledge of counselors about caregiver issues, I solicited contributions from an outstanding group of professionals, who share personal caregiving stories, overview the challenges of caregivers, and offer a variety of perspectives on how to address the needs of caregivers.

Articles are grouped under the following headings:

• Assessing caregiver strengths (Keis)
• Building internal and external support systems (Dashew, Liebhabers, McLean, Marcell)
• Staying balanced and falling out of balance (Marks, Rosenberg, Miller-Tiedeman)
• Aging in place and innovative live/work options (Christner-Lile, Muscat)
• Who gives or gets what? (Fieldler, Christner-Lile)
• Connecting mind, body, and spirit (Colozzi, Joseph, Sultan, Baptiste)
• Creating a legacy when time is running out (Cox, Gelardin)
• Introducing a Family Caregiver Wellness Model (Gelardin)

This Journal issue provides a rationale for caregiver support and offers cues for creating a 21st Century Family Caregiver Wellness Model. Although most of the articles relate to eldercare, many of the suggestions and concepts can be applied to caregiving for individuals of all ages with special needs.

Building Internal and External Support Systems 

 Career professionals know how important support systems are in making a career change, looking for a job or making a personal transition. Becoming a family caregiver is a major transition that can affect both personal and work life.  From the perspective of a loved one being cared for, Gail Liebhaber courageously shares insights into building both internal and external sources of support. As caregivers, Leslie Dashew and Ruvin Liebhaber describe how they built external sources of support and give tips for caregivers in ways to coordinate caregiving responsibilities of the support team. Jacqueline Marcell and Pamela McLean discuss their personal experience with Dementia and Alzheimer’s and offer strategies for developing internal and external sources of support specific to these two illnesses. 

Assessing Caregiver Strengths 

The Family Caregiver Alliance identifies five main reasons for conducting a caregiver assessment and lists areas that need to be addressed. Ken Keis presents an assortment of online and hard copy tools that can be used to assess caregiver strengths and to identify areas where they could use support. I asked Ken to contribute to this issue because he approaches assessment from a “whole person” viewpoint. I believe that whole person wellness is especially important for caregivers since they are often coping with long-term stressful situations. With knowledge and experience in administering assessment tools, counselors can (a)  show caregivers how to access appropriate assessment tools, (b) help caregiver clients interpret results, and (c) assist caregivers in developing strategies to apply their strengths and needs to specific caregiving situations.

Staying Balanced and Letting Oneself Fall Out of Balance

It is an understatement to say that caregivers have a difficult time balancing caregiving, career and self-care. Linda Marks offers a plan, resources, and support for workers who have caregiving responsibilities. Renee Rosenberg discusses the stressful effect of caregiving on retired workers and outlines a way to cope with stress that includes laughter. Anna Tiedeman’s article is about love and letting oneself fall out of balance while managing the caregiving situation. She advocates enjoying each moment in the caregiving situation without casting out to the future or thinking back to the past.

Aging in Place and Innovative Live-Work Options 

Seniors are on the move.  Whether they stay in their homes or move to active or assisted living situations, they often have need for adaptive technology and other caregiving assistance, usually managed by family caregivers. Donna Christner-Lile describes what is required to perform well in a new field – “move management.”  Eugene Muscat explores emerging community-supported, live-work situations for caregivers and their loved ones.

Connecting Mind, Body, and Spirit

For more information, contact Dr. Sally Gelardin, info @agingworks.org