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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  • Healing the mind after a stroke
    How stroke affects understanding and behaviour and how to regain lost ground. By Porrselvi A.P. a cognitive and psychosocial interventions specialist What happens in a stroke Stroke or Cerebro Vascular Accident (CVA) happens when there is either a block in the supply of blood to an area of the brain or when there is bleeding within the brain tissue. When this happens, areas of the brain do not receive sufficient amount of blood and nutrients they require and are damaged.…
  • The Art of Caregiving - The 4 Step Guide to Better Caregiving
    As a family caregiver of a loved one who is ill, you are juggling multiple jobs. You are nurse, counsellor, dietitian, secretary, friend and emotional anchor – all rolled into one.  However sincere you are about your responsibilities, the stress can mount up quickly and cascade onto the lives of others in the household. How do you keep your patient well and happy and keep yourself and your family calm and happy, too?  The Caregiver’s Guidebook brings you ideas to help…
  • Management of Dementia
    Managing the condition Dementia generally gets worse with age but the development of symptoms can often be slowed with drugs or other treatments. Treatment of dementia usually aims to improve memory and concentration, reduce psychiatric problems, and improve the quality of life for both the patient and their family. Read here for various treatment options: http://www.patientsengage.com/conditions/dementia/treatments Improving quality of life: There are several psychological techniques to…
  • 10 Tips on Communicating with a Patient with Dementia
    Ekta Hattangady became her mother’s primary caregiver when she was 13. Her mother had Early Onset Alzheimer’s at age 43. Hindsight is always 20-20. I was an Alzheimer’s caregiver between 18-15 years ago. The world was a different place then. The internet was not as big as it is today and nor was Alzheimer’s a household name. Not in India, anyway. As time has passed, my work with families and people with dementia has increased and my level of knowledge about the disease has grown…
  • Alzheimer’s – a most wretched disease
    Balbir Singh Rawat, now 87, looked after his wife who had Alzheimer’s Disease. He talks of the challenges, learnings and what we, as a society, need to do to tackle this scourge of the elderly. My wife’s troubles started sometime in 2005 when she was hardly 70 yrs old, the prime age of a grandma. The disease crept in so slowly that none noticed the subtle changes in her behaviour by way of reactions to external stimuli.  When we did notice, it was too late to avail of any chance of…
  • Management of Alzheimer’s Disease
    How can you keep the patient well: Creating a safe and supportive environment: You may need to modify the home depending on the needs of the patient. This may include locking doors (if the patient is prone to wandering), installing gates in front of stairs to prevent falls, removing rugs or other objects that one could trip over, use of bright lighting or labelling the kitchen or the bathroom to reduce confusion for the patient.  Regular exercise: This has known benefits for heart health…
  • A good death
    You’ve been asked to take a terminally ill loved one home. Are you ready for this? Dr. R. Akhileswaran, Medical Director, HCA Hospice Care, Singapore tells you how to make the last days as comfortable as possible in this interview with PatientsEngage.  Plus, talking about death and other questions we are too afraid to ask. 1.   Patients in their last stage of life are often advised by doctors to take the patient home but family members are often afraid to do so. …
  • Caregiver Training Video - Touch Therapy
    This is a caregiver training video resource from HCA Hospice Care, Singapore.  It shows how you can gently massage to soothe an elderly person or a patient.   
  • Back of a person carrying a basket of fruits and vegetables in the shopping aisle
    Tips for Caring for a GERD Patient
    Caring for a GERD Patient Heartburn is the most common symptom of this condition, although some GERD sufferers don't feel heartburn but instead experience chest pains and difficulty swallowing. Fortunately, with proper treatment and monitoring of the patient, the onset of more serious conditions can be prevented. Use the following suggestions to help comfort your family member or patient and ease the painful symptoms of GERD. Follow Up  After the initial GERD diagnosis, a follow-up doctor'…
  • 13 Steps To Better Sleep
    By family practitioner and paediatrician Dr Gita Mathai. How much sleep we need, the best time to go to bed, effects of sleep deprivation and how to improve your sleep practice.  How much sleep do we really need? We actually sleep away one third of our lifetimes. In infancy, a baby may sleep anywhere from 14-17 hours a day. Their sleep requirements are not controlled by outside forces like light, sound or work. So, babies sleep as much as their body needs. As age increases, the number of…
What to do when you've reached your breaking point as a caregiver
I came upon this list of great advice from caregivers on what to do when you feel like you have reached your "breaking point" or a point of true exhaustion or frustration as a caregiver. What are some tips you would give others when they reach this…
Dutch students choose to live in nursing homes rent-free (as long as they keep the residents company)
Read the article here...http://www.thejournal.ie/help-the-aged-1814698-Dec2014/ Would something like this work in an Asian context ? I think its worth a few experiments for sure.      
Share your caregiving story!
I moved the Chennai 3.5 years ago to take care of my beloved grandma who developed breast cancer. Being a caregiver for her was a life changing experience for me. It showed me that even when we are caring for someone we love and even if we enjoy our…
What is your biggest caregiving challenge?
We all experience many joys and many challenges as caregivers. Sometimes talking about the tough aspects of caregiving is a good way to make sure we are not keeping our frustrations and diffficulties bottled up. The more we internalize the stresses…
What do you do to take a break from Caregiving?
One of the most important things that Caregivers need to do for themselves and their loved ones is to take breaks. It is so vital to take time to focus on oneself, recharge, and get some rest. If a Caregiver does not take breaks, it can lead to…
Home nursing options
How do you go about finding the right nurse for the patient or the elderly? What level of knowledge of English is important ? What are the top 3 things you look for ?    
Welcome to the Caregiver Community!
Hello fellow Family Caregivers! It is exciting to have an online forum where Caregivers from India and around the world can come together to share and learn from each other. This is a space where you can pose questions, share your story, and just…
Stores dedicated for senior citizens in India and Singapore
I came across http://www.oldisgoldstore.com/ recently. They have retail outlets in Chennai and ship to the southern states. Do you know of stores like these in other cities ?  We would like to add this information in our Resources centre  

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