Caregiver Community

  • Caregiver Community
    2310 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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  • 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…
  • Take a lunchtime stroll to reduce stress
    Study published in The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports shows that even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly - and immediately - buoy and improve people's moods and ability to handle stress at work. To assess people's moods, the volunteers set up a specialized app that included a list of questions about their emotions - stress, tension, enthusiasm, workload, motivation, physical fatigue.   Walkers said they felt more enthusiastic, less tense, more relaxed on the…
  • If He’s Not Well, She’s There. If She’s Not Well, Who’s There?
    Our society reinforces women’s role as caregivers, time and again. It’s time this changed to help women focus on their own health, says this post. Think about the time when your grandfather/father(-in-law)/husband/son(-in-law) was sick/unwell/indisposed. It could be something major, like an operation, or something minor, like a fever. Can you recall who was there with him? Who nursed him back to health? Who fussed over him? Who ensured he had healthy food? Who gave him timely…
  • Caregiver health and wellness
    You are focused on looking after a patient with a chronic condition. But you, the caregiver, may also be at risk. Rama Murali of Care3 (Care Cubed), a support network and resource bank for caregivers, gives you some tips on how to avoid caregiver burnout. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha Why focus on Caregiver health? Although caregiving can be truly rewarding for many, the 24×7 nature of caring for a…
  • Common anticholinergic drugs like Benadryl, Nytol linked to increased dementia risk
    Nytol, Benadryl, Ditropan and Piriton among the medications identified by scientists as raising likelihood of dementia A report published online this week in JAMA Internal Medicine offers compelling evidence of a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like Benadryl and dementia. Anticholinergic drugs block the action of acetylcholine. This substance transmits messages in the nervous system. In the brain, acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory. In the…
  • From Robin Williams to My Father, Understanding Lewy Body Dementia
    Remember that you don't have to do any of this alone. - Kuntal Joisher Recently, it came to light that a significant underlying factor to Williams' decision to end his lifemay have been the fact that Williams was believed to have been suffering from Lewy Body Dementia. This recent discovery has put the spotlight firmly on Lewy Body Dementia or LBD, a disease that often goes undiagnosed in those afflicted with the condition. Lewy Body Dementia is the most misdiagnosed form of dementia. LBD…
  • How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's - Alanna Shaikh
    Global development expert Alanna Shaikh takes on the toughest of health issues - dementia- from the ones affecting the globe at large to the ones hurting her own family. "My dad was my hero and my mentor for most of my life, and I've spent the last decade watching him disappear." "Based on what I've learned from taking care of my father, and researching what it's like to live with dementia, I'm focusing on three things in my preparation: I'm changing what I do for fun, I'm…
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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