Caregiving is expensive. One way to avoid financial hardship is to establish a budget based on household and medical necessities as you begin planning care. When the need for caregiving becomes a reality, take time to look over all your financial needs and the possible resources available to help with medical expenses because caregiving is […]
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Hallucinations occur with mental and physical illnesses and often happen as a side effect of medications, low oxygen, or trauma. Therefore, don’t assume someone has a mental health condition if they start seeing something you don’t see or hearing voices you can’t hear. Waking up within an extended dream state or with
Like hallucinations, delusions are difficult for both the caregiver and the family member to handle because they seem real. The person experiencing the delusion believes the story they tell about a situation. For example, if your family member tells you she had dinner last night in Paris with your dead Aunt who works for
Helping someone who has trouble moving or helping themselves requires a lot of strength, flexibility, and energy. Many times, unexpected movements cause muscle strain or back injuries. Special transfer or moving equipment (often called durable medical equipment or DME) helps reduce the risk of these injuries, but the cost is high. Before buying
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Developing a Plan of Care After completing a health assessment, you have a baseline for your family member and a starting place for developing a plan of care. A comparison with the baseline can show an improvement or decline in their state of health. Initially, compare their baseline to the normal for their age,
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What happens if the primary caregiver is unavailable to provide care? Many caregivers have medical problems they neglect or develop over years of providing care to family members. Eventually, however, everyone becomes sick, and try as they might, they cannot come to work. The same is true of caregivers,
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Use Caution When Assessing Needs Caregivers enter their role with guarded expectations and mixed knowledge and skills. Assessing the needs of themselves or their family members is very foreign to them. Therefore, use caution in searching for information to avoid unreliable sources. When seeking information or training, seek reliable sources. Caregivers with no
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How you cope with sundowning behavior and the way you prevent them from happening is much the same. As with all medical or mental health conditions, what works for one family may differ for another based on your lifestyle. UCLA Health Caregiver Training Video Look for Patterns Look for patterns of
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I’ve Been Where You Are Now I understand how a new caregiver feels. I’ve stood at that same door of uncertainty and felt the tidal wave of anxiety roll over me as I wondered what lay ahead. Over the past twenty years, I have experienced first-hand caregiving during three major family life events. As a
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Mission Objectives Objective: To provide specific instructions for patient care procedures potentially performed at home, including potential risks, troubleshooting, and tips. Method: Provide links to YouTube videos that demonstrate patient care procedures. The visual presentation allows the viewer to see a successful demonstration, the type of supplies and equipment needed, and some techniques used to
