Caregiver Community

  • Caregiver Community
    2313 member(s)

    A place where Caregivers come together to share common experiences, challenges,and resources. 

    Caregivers are truly experts in patient management and can help each other because of their intensive experience in patient care at home. Caregivers can ask questions to others on this forum going through a similar caregiving experiences. They can start topics and discuss things like ways to manage daily tasks, where to find doctors, nurses, and other health services, how they manage stress, and any other topics related to caring for their loved one and for themselves. It is a great place for Caregivers to come and chat about the issues that affect them on a day to day basis and take time to focus on their own needs and health.

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  • Care for the Caregiver
    Maya Ramachandran shares her experience as a caregiver to her parents and the learnings she drew from this. Caregiving is soul-satisfying, meaningful, draining and frustrating all at the same time. I had been a caregiver for my father for almost 16 years. My mother took charge from the forefront and I was with her, supporting her to the best of my ability through this period. However, for the last two years of my father’s life, I took on the role of ‘primary caregiver’, as my mother…
  • Image description: Black and white image shows an elderly persons hands on a lap
    Coping with Disasters and Dementia
    Disasters such as floods have an even worse impact on people with dementia. Dr Sridhar Vaitheswaran explains what precautions and coping measures can be taken A disaster is defined as an unexpected event that kills a lot of people or causes a lot of damage (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary). During a disaster, routine life is affected to a significant extent. Individual lives are under threat and the immediate focus is on protecting lives. The capacity of organisations that generally manage…
  • Hallucination and Delusion in Parkinson's Disease
    Hallucination and Delusion in Parkinson's Hallucinations and Delusions are two types of Neuropsychiatric symptoms which affect people with Parkinson’s, and result in disturbance of perception and thought. They can occur due to two reasons - as a symptom of the condition or as a side effect of the medication. A Hallucination involves a sensation (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling) about something that does not exist. It is experienced when the person is in a wakeful state and very…
  • A person in a blue full sleeved shirt holding his head indicating a brain stroke
    Post-Stroke Depression Is Common
    But often overlooked, says Porrselvi A.P. a cognitive and psychosocial interventions specialist. Here, she offers a case study and practical strategies to guide you back to normal life.   The patient: Mrs. K, a 67-year-old woman had a stroke in the left side of her brain in September last year.  Her condition: Mrs K was referred for cognitive and psychological evaluation following complaints of social withdrawal, memory disturbances and increased irritability…
  • When therapy harms instead of healing
    In India, child therapy takes place behind closed doors without any parental supervision or social regulation. Are we wating for something untoward to happen to these vulnerable kids, asks outraged mother Preetha Anoop and psychologist and special educator Seema Lal.  A mother Preetha Anoop shares March 23, 2015 - a day I cannot forget! After being up all night attending to my two-year-old who was down with a bad cold, I took my little one to the hospital. My…
  • Should we provide special services for special people?
    Or should we aspire to a world where inclusive services are the norm, and hence ‘unremarkable’? Dr Justin Lee, Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, discusses what it means to be a truly inclusive society. When meeting or interacting with a young person with disabilities, people often are unsure of how to behave. They may ignore the person or be overly effusive. Can you tell us some dos and don'ts, and some key points to keep in mind. Yes, the ‘overly…
  • 4 Strategies to Help Men Get Through Depression
    Depression is devastating, insidious, it can break up relationships and ruin friendships, but with the right tools and support, it can be beaten. Caring for a man who is suffering from depression can be even harder, because depression isn't often seen - it's felt.  4 tips for a caregiver to balance your way through a mine field of defensiveness, denial, anger, and despondence.  Tip #1 Understand His Depression "There are wounds that never show on the body that are…
  • Caregiving Tips for Parkinson's Disease
    Caregiving is a challenging job. Depending on the severity of the condition, you have to be prepared to do the following: Accompany the person with Parkinson’s disease for their medical appointments Install safety features around the house Get additional help if you are not around to monitor and assist the patient Additionally, remember that a good relationship and communication with the patient keeps them and you happier and healthier. Look after your own health and mental wellbeing.…
  • Patients with multiple chronic illnesses may reduce visits to Hospital in Singapore
    Older people with chronic conditions often suffer from multiple illnesses and it is very confusing and taxing for them to see different specialists at different times. Its also very hard for them and their family caregivers to follow different instructions from different clinics and doctors. So this is definitely a great initiative by TTSH to simplify one aspect of care for the elderly Struggling with multiple illnesses including diabetes, high blood pressure, gout attacks and chronic kidney…
  • Stress Management
    Your doctor may suggest some of the following self-help strategies:  Self-understanding: Know what is causing you stress  Self-management: Be more organised, control your thoughts Self-talk: Stand in front of a mirror and counsel yourself Conflict resolution: Make ways to resolve smaller conflicts that may snowball into bigger ones. Positive attitude: See the upside of the situation  Breathing exercises: Do pranayama Try meditation  Exercise Alter your diet: Add vegetables…
Patient not discharged from ICU despite repeated requests
In the last couple of weeks, I have heard of two different cases in India where the hospital kept a patient in ICU on life support for weeks on end. In one case, even after the family asked for the patient to be transferred to a normal room, the…
Counsellor in Ahmedabad
Query from a caregiver Does anyone know a counsellor in Ahmedabad who can go to a patient's home. Patient has had a couple of strokes and even though there is no paralysis believes he is paralysed and does not use his limbs and keeps falling.…
Walking with quad cane assistance
Here is a question from one of our members: My father is 89. He used to walk regularly twice a day and used a simple walking cane. But now he has had a few falls. Doctor says he must use a cane with 4 legs(quad cane) but he refuses to do that. Now…
A family torn apart by illness
When treatment started failing 66 year old Siew Ching, the family became divided into different camps. Some wanted her to stay in hospital so that she could receive maximal supportive care. Others wanted her to be discharged so she could go…
My 95 year old father
My 95 year old father lives with my sister. She takes very good care of him. Normally he is fine. Can manage most daily activities with some help. But he is sometimes very paranoid about domestic helpers coming into his room and trying to harm him…
Tips for Caregivers
We found a great list of tips (in the link below) to help ease the challenges of being a caregiver and help caregivers with self-care - take a look at this list and share with us if you have ever used any of these and how! The tips include:…
Sleep - A big challenge for Caregivers
A lack of sleep or feeling tired is one of the biggest challenges that Caregivers face. Often times we have to wake up at night to check on our loved one, or we have trouble falling asleep because our mind is preoccupied. What are some of your…
How do you ask for help?
As Caregivers we often take on a lot and can get exhausted. It is important to learn how to ask for help - maybe other family members, friends, or neighbors can help take on some tasks and make life a little easier for the Caregiver. For many of us…
Restlessness in semi mobile senior
My MIL is a little bit over weight @ 94, and is able to walk only with a walker very slowly.She is addicted to watching TV whether she understands anything or not, but cannot sit for a long time. WE give her TV time, once a day for 2 hours. For…
Sharing Caregiving Duties Among Siblings or Family
I recently came across a great article that spoke about the importance of sharing caregiving duties among family or siblings. Often, the caregving duties falls upon one sibling or family member, and  this can cause resentment or…

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