Around the Region

Caring for the caregiver

    As our community ages, one problem that is becoming larger is that of caring for and supporting caregivers, many of whom are themselves getting older. When resources are not available to senior caregivers, or when they choose not accept them, they may risk overextending their capacity to meet their loved ones’ needs. When this happens, caregivers may be unable to sustain their care-giving efforts. Such situations can be personally tragic if the loss of an informal caregiver causes a dependent senior to transition prematurely to a long-term facility. Disruption in a frail older person’s plan to “age in place” is also financially costly.

    Many community services and supports, including home health services, adult day services, senior centers, transportation, respite, responsive primary care, hospice, and regular opportunities for social interaction are available to help keep seniors at home.
    Aging caregivers can relieve some of the physical burden of care by arranging home health services to assist with bathing, meal preparation, and medical procedures. When available, adult day services provided in a licensed facility may provide just enough respite for senior caregivers to attend to their own medical appointments, exercise, or have lunch with a friend. If an older caregiver can no longer safely drive, transportation services may be critical to extending the number of months or years they continue in their supportive role.
    Finally, responsive primary care providers can go a long way toward helping older people continue to care for each other by offering information and education about managing such chronic conditions as Parkinson’s disease and dementia. As the senior population expands over the next few decades, it will be increasingly important to support innovative approaches to providing all types of support for aging in place, including remote monitoring devices and video-based consultation. The initial investment in such technology will no doubt pay for itself over time as more seniors remain avoid costly in-patient and institutional care.
    To find out more about help that may be available to help keep a senior at home, call Eastern Area Agency on Aging at (207) 941-2865 or 1-800-432-7812, or speak with your family doctor.
We invite readers to offer feedback about this column and to suggest topics for future articles. You may do so by contacting Meg Callaway of the Charlotte White Center at (207) 947-1410 and mcallaway@charlottewhite.org or Lesley Fernow at (207) 992-6822 and lmfernow@rcn.com.

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