I chose to do my research poster on family caregivers that lack adequate training and education needed when caring for individuals with cognitive impairments. Caring for individuals with cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other brain injuries can be overwhelming. Proper training and education can help eliminate stress while caring for these individuals.
Caring for a loved one who has Alzheimers, dementia or a brain injury is extremely hard, when it is a loved one it is even harder to acknowledge when there is a need for medical assistance. I believe in various types of education for caregivers, the support and willingness to learn is present. Many caregivers are just doing what they can to survive in the moment, not knowing the signs and symptoms of even basic complications.
Although I do not work with the elderly population, I do work closely with caregivers who would benefit from a standardized training program. I would also like to see more research and interventions to encourage caregivers to use self care and seek own professional help when care giving becomes a burden or overly stressful. It would be beneficial if caregivers were matched with support groups or mentors.
Having worked in a Alzheimers/Dementia unit at an assisted living facility in the past, I can agree completely that there is not enough education given to family members on how to care and even interact with loved ones that suffer from these illnesses. It is a horrible thing to watch your loved one deteriorate and it is often very frustrating for the families when their loved one can no longer do something they once could or can not remember the smallest things. I know there are support groups and that does help, but I feel like actual training from hospitals/facilities would be better suited and may allow for families to live together longer.
My mother-in-law who passed 4 years ago had Alzhemimers for about 5 years. It took awhile before family knew something so severe was going on. I also have a brother-in-law who was in a motorcycle-truck MVA 10 years ago and has permanent physical disabilities but the worst is his permanent brain injury. Even though I have not been the care-taker in either of these family members but it’s a close family and we are together often and see the stress and difficulty both of these conditions present. Both of these family had their physical needs taken care of and both lived and still live in the home. What I have seen and think where some help needs to be given is in the psychological needs/care of both the caregiver and the person needing care. Personalities are not the same, sad to say. Its a 24-7 job. Learning out to talk with dementia would be helpful because they are not rational( paranoia, fearful, tearful, argumentative) and there is no reasoning. Depression for the caregivers is also an area to look at because of the change in the relationship. One a mother, the other a husband-not the same at all. You don’t want to be but angry but anger creeps in just cause its so infuriating day in and day out every single day. My mother-in-law was a wonderful loving women with an open door any time and loving arms and a lap for all the babies. My sister-in-law and her husband were living a good life. Just retired, travelling, enjoying their adults kids. Both of these situations totally changed the dynamics of the family and its hard to deal with. Training I think on how to talk to the person affected, how to talk to each other and how and where to go for help. You don’t know what you need until you need it and often don’t know where to go to get it.
Thanks for you poster,
Gayle
I can definitely relate to this topic currently working on a behavioral health unit with frequent pulls to the geriatric ward. I can categorically say that it is challenging and sometimes overwhelming caring for these vulnerable population(aged), and even worse, is the presence of cognitive impairment which has no cure. Trust me, these patients also become overwhelmed and sometimes aggressive when frustrated by events around them. Proper training of personnel in understanding symptoms, when, and how to intervene will surely make a difference!