A Caregiver is defined as any person who assists a disabled individual of any age:

• Can be with simple tasks like cooking, shopping, transportation, housecleaning, bill paying, etc . . .
• Can also include major tasks and responsibility, such as feeding, bathing, transferring, dressing, and providing 24-hour supervision
• Can be a paid individual, family member or friend
• A paid Caregiver is going to have less of an emotional attachment; this can be both an advantage and disadvantage.
• More objective, less emotional, less stress, no prior relationship
• Less dependable, expensive, hard to find, less committed

Family Caregivers: Parent, child, sibling, relative

Emotional involvement: Stress, time, money, memory of prior relationship, change in roles, inability to work, feelings about injury/illness, full-time commitment, heavy physical demands

REMEMBER: “If the Caregiver does not take care of him- or herself, there will be two sick people!”

From Take Your Oxygen First by Leeza Gibbons

Recognize the importance and value of good self-care:

Get out every day, good nutrition, exercise, counseling, spiritual support, support groups, good peer/family support system, sleep, allowing others to help, recognizing that you can’t do it all

Accept imperfection: You cannot have perfect situation, cannot know everything about medical issues, cannot control person’s mood or motivation level, cannot control course of illness

Maintain realistic expectations; accept your limitations

Maintain some normal home environment

Maintain relationships: Spouse, children, friends, family

Avoid isolation

Accept that you cannot control every facet of the person’s life

Pay close attention to your own mood: Depression, anxiety, isolation, impatient, memory loss

The brain injury happened to the whole family: Everyone in the family system is affected

Take breaks: Days off, weekends away, family vacations, use paid caregivers if needed or respite care

Acknowledge your feelings: Resentment, frustration, overwhelmed, anger, stress

Know when to raise the flag. (I have to get help: personal or professional, medical intervention, paid help, family, etc . . .)

Appropriate use of medications: To control behavior, mood.

Acknowledge your own Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Memories of the accident/illness; hospitalization; ICU; near-death experience; recovery periods.

PTSD Symptoms:

• Anxiety
• Poor sleep
• Frequent nightmares
• Difficulty knowing what is the present and what is a memory from the past
• Reliving trauma
• Depression, fears, frequent and unexplained changes in mood and behaviors

The greater the role of the Caregiver, the greater the impact on his or her own physical, emotional, and mental health.

Stuart Hanzman
490 Sun Valley Drive, Suite 205
Roswell, GA 30076
(770) 642-4236, ext. 41