Supporting Caregivers Supports Our Nation Gwenyth Johnson MS. RDN. LDN CEO Second Wind Dreams Caregivers are one of our most precious national resources. There are nearly 40 million caregivers providing care to older adults in the United States. Simply from an economic standpoint the value of this care is estimated at $500 billion annually. They are the backbone of our aging and long-term care health system. Once we understand this, the need for caregiver support is easy to understand. Caregiver stress is a primary issue and one that has multiple impacts. Caregiver stress occurs for any number of reasons. According to Rhonda Montgomery and her work developing Tailored Care for Caregivers®(TCARE®), caregivers’ identities can become confused and even change to identify with the position of care provider rather an individual. Identity confusion causes stress, as does the increased intensity of care provided over time, financial stress, and so on. As this increases the caregiver may find that they are considering placement for the loved one. Montgomery and her work maintain that the provision of resources to manage these stressors can help to prevent placement and reduce the physical and emotional impact on the caregiver. What are these resources and where to we connect with them? The good news is that there are supports in every community. Here in Georgia, we have a community aging network consisting of the State Unit on Aging and 12 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). This network provides direct services along with a statewide database of resources and additional services. These resources can be accessed through Empowerline: https://www.empowerline.org/caregiver/ for the Atlanta 10 county metro area and statewide through the Georgia Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC): https://aging. georgia.gov/contacts/aging-and-disability-resource-connection. Other organizations like AARP offer supports https:// www.aarp.org/caregiving/answers/info-2017/family-caregivers-support-groups.html. The Alzheimer’s Association is another group offering supports specifically for those living with dementia and their caregivers https://www.alz.org/ georgia. Resources can also be found through faith communities and local support groups. And the Rosalyn Carter Institute for Caregiving has state of the art resources as well https://www.rosalynncarter.org/. There are also self-care resources to help manage stress. Stress is an overdrive of our fight or flight response. It causes metabolic, immune, cardiovascular, and other system changes. This simply means that self-care if of the utmost importance. Taking time out to breathe or take a mini mind vacation are ways of mitigating stress in the moment. Regular exercise (even 10 minutes at a time), healthy food, meditation, and sleep are also important in managing stress. Walking is a wonderful way to begin exercising with little, if any, expense. According to America Walks, “Time spent walking and moving can improve muscle strength and flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, joint health, bone density, sleep quality, it can also help with managing weight, stress, and mental health.” www.Americawalks.org. Tai Chi, a practice used for centuries, is a combination of postures, movements, and breathing that has been helpful for decreasing pain and improving quality of life and mood. Research suggests that meditation helps to lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety, and depression, and may even help with pain. For more information on many of these techniques visit the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/atoz#. Here at Second Wind Dreams we also provide supports for caregivers. We have been offering a quarterly Let’s Talk Caregiving Roundtable through the sponsorship of AARP Georgia. We also have resources and education for caregivers and families at our website https://www.secondwind.org/caregiver-resources.html.
15
Atlanta Family Caregiver Expo
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker