Cargiver Resources and Hints PREVENTING CAREGIVER BURNOUT How do you compare? Common Characteristics of Caregivers -
You're probably a "primary caregiver," which means you're basically in charge of everything that happens to your care receiver. -
If you're a family caregiver, you're more than likley employed. That means you have to use a lot of creativity to balance your work and home responsibilities with your caregiving duties. -
You could be anywhere from 21-90 years of age. The average age of all caregivers is in the mid-fifties. -
If you're a family caregiver, you provide about 80% of all personal and medically- related care and about 90% of all home-help services. -
If you're an average caregiver, you're spending four hours a day, seven days a week with your care receiver. If your care receiver is severely impaired, you could be spending over 40 hours a week giving heavy-duty care and be on-call 24 hours a day. -
As a primary caregiver, you get little or no help from anyone else. The help you do get comes from family or friends. -
Most likely you are caring for your spouse. If you're not a spouse you're probably a son, daughter, or daughter in law. -
You've possibly had some previous, short- term experience giving care to a friend, family member, or loved one. -
You're also concerned about your own health, and you should be with all the work you do! Why Do You Do It? -
You have many reasons, the most frequent reason is love for your family member, friend and a desire to provide care in familiar surroundings. You might also be motivated by a sense of obligation, or a concern that no one else can provide the same quality care. You became a caregiver in one of two ways (1) you chose to do it or (2) you had no choice. If it was your choice, you probably based your decision on whether you had the time, energy, money, or patience to do it. If you had no choice, you probably found yourself suddenly and unexpectedly in a position that demands great personal sacrifice. In either case, you're doing the best you can by relying on your experience, intuition and the advice of others. Good News Stages of Burnout Stage 1 - Frustration Stage 2 - Depression Stage 3 - Despair
National Family Caregivers Association -The National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) exists to support family caregivers and to speak out publicly for caregivers' needs. http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org/
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