Caregiver Community

  • Caregiver Community
    2318 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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  • How to avoid Swine Flu or H1N1
    By Dr. Shital Raval How to avoid Swine Flu or H1N1 Wear a face mask when stepping out of the house. Avoid crowded places. Stay away from people who have a cough or cold. Practice good hand hygiene, wash hands often. Carry a hand sanitizer with you always. Avoid catching a cold by taking a multivitamin daily, avoiding stepping out early morning and late night Eat healthy.   Drink plenty of water and fluids. Use disposable tissues instead of towels or handkerchiefs. Ask your doctor about…
  • 10 Rules on being a Caregiver's friend
    Your friend is a caregiver and you don't know how to help...here are 10 tips  1. Don’t say, “What can I do to help?”. Just do it. 2. Remember me before I was a caregiver  3. Please don’t stop including/inviting me. I need to know I am wanted. 4. Don’t try to fix my situation. Don’t stop being the listener you always were. 5. Let me know you think of me – Many days I feel forgotten by the world.  6. Follow my lead – There are times I need to talk. Sometimes I just…
  • 5 Biggest Issues That Sabotage Family Caregivers
    By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com contributing editor Caring for an aging parent or other loved one in your home usually begins with the best of intentions. Over time, however, a good thing can disintegrate into a tough, tense situation. Knowing the top trouble spots can help you make changes that can delay or avoid the need to move on to out-of-home placement. Here are five big "sore points" that undermine family caregiving -- and what to do about them: Sore point #1: Lack of privacy…
  • 30 minute nap can reverse effects of sleep deprivation
    Sleep deprivation is rampant. A 30 minute nap is beneficial to your health!  This article specifically talks of the negative effects of sleep deprivation in caregivers :  forgetfulness, lowered alertness,premature aging,  decrease creativity, lower immune system, increased risk of stroke, diabetes, unwanted weight gain and increased possibility for a heart attack. Caregiver statistics show caregivers are often exhausted at the end of the day. Many  find that they…
  • State-of-the-art dementia treatment facility is a 1950s era village - Hogewey
    Hogewey is an amazing "village" on the outskirts of Amsterdam. It's a step back into the 1950s boasting pretty, manicured streets, a grocery, cafe, coffee shop, restaurant and even a beauty salon and barber shop. There are 152 residents in Hogewey, and all have something in common—dementia. Hogewey is a treatment facility for dementia and Alzheimer's patients. It is set in the 1950s because the dementia patient's long term memory is preserved much more vividly than short…
  • The longevity tips from the Blue Zone
    Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the principles of longevity and better health in this video in this blue zone journey as he talks to Dan Buettner, the author of Blue Zone Solutions The 4 longevity takeaways capture the 9 tips very well: 1. Move Naturally - Without even thinking about it  2. Eat wisely- More plants, less red meat, a glass of wine with a social group of moderate drinkers 3. Belong - Volunteer, Gives a sense of purpose and makes you want to get out of bed 4. Connect with people -…
  • I paint to my heart's content and refresh my mind to start each challenging day anew
    Mrs Gowri shares her experience as a caregiver of her mother with Dementia   I care for my mother, a soft natured but strong willed woman, who had worked for 35 years. Post retirement, a freak accident while gardening, which we now believe could have been caused by a mild stroke, reduced her mobility and slowly led to the degeneration of the brain cells. Normally very quiet and uncomplaining, she had begun to lose her alacrity. Without any of us being aware of the symptoms, like difficulty…
  • Still Alice: A Review from an Alzheimer’s CareGiver
    A review of "Still Alice" by Ekta Hattangady, from India who was 13 when her mother was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's at 43. Ekta became her Primary Caregiver at the age of 16. My final verdict would be…it’s a great movie. It’s not reality. Not every person with Alzheimer’s would be like this…some may be a lot worse…especially in the case of Early Onset Dementia.  Everything you saw in this movie, multiply it by 10,000 times and then you may be somewhere close to what it is like…
  • Smoking is not bad, its even worse - new study
    However bad you thought smoking was, its much worse. A new study adds 5 more diseases to the existing 21 diseases and 60,000 more deaths to the existing toll of half million deaths attributed to tobacco in United States alone. Death rates of smokers are 2-3 times higher than those who have never smoked and they die a decade earlier than smokers. Stopping smoking helps reduce risk over time. In addition to existing hazards of lung cancer, artery disease, heart attacks, chronic lung disease…
  • 20 things to remember if your loved one suffers from Depression
    According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 350 million people all over the world with depression. With that staggering statistic, it is highly probable that we will all interact at some point with someone experiencing a bout with depression. One of the most devastating aspects of dealing with depression is the stigma and negative criticism that comes from others. Furthermore, people may not even know that their behaviors and comments are being negative or hurtful…
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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