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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  • Turning off life support
    What happens when doctors and family members don’t agree and you don’t have a living will? Lawyer Lyn Boxall describes scenarios in the US, Singapore and the UK. What is a living will In the US and Singapore, a person can make a ‘living will’ – officially, an ‘advance medical directive’. In Singapore, it’s a document that a person signs and that applies when the person is terminally ill and unconscious or incapable of making a rational decision. It instructs their treating…
  • She lives in the present, forgets the past and can’t think of the future, so I try to be that way too
    She reduced her mother's medications to a minimum. Side effects may have also played a role in Asayo’s agitation and violence, said Steve Iliffe, professor of Primary Care for Old People at University College London. She let her mother walk.. “Walking is therapeutic and helps reduce disturbed behavior and sleep,” he said. “Letting her wander saved us and made us happy,” Akiko said. “It was unbelievably disturbing and stressful to keep my mom in the house.” Wandering alone, though,…
  • Its ok to cry and laugh, to take time out for yourself
    This touching and poignant documentary – “Portraits of Care” –  looks at the lives of four amazing Caregivers and gives a rare glimpse into the realities of long-term care in India. A husband as caregiver, a wife as caregiver, daughters as caregivers Issues with home care agencies, dealing with absent and interfering relatives, caregiver stress and the financial challenges How to take time out for yourself, how to deal with your anger and frustration Celebrate the little…
  • Role of the family and caregiver of a MS patient
    Multiple Sclerosis or MS is a disease that can easily lead to feelings of isolation. Typically, at some point, it leads to significant physical disability and forces people to leave paid employment. It is particularly difficult as MS hits patients when they are young, just starting a family or developing their career.  The spouse or other family member has to take on the responsibilities of caring for the patient, children and supporting the family financially. As the…
  • Old photos helping trigger memories in people with dementia
    Pictures taken by a little-known photographer between the 1930s and 1960s have found a new use helping to trigger memories and reminiscences among people with dementia. "In the dementia care world reminiscence is up there as one of the leading groups of therapeutic approaches," explains Prof Bob Woods, an expert in the clinical psychology of older people at Bangor University. "Essentially it's a good way of facilitating communication, and so it helps people to feel more socially integrated and…
  • Alzheimer's patients can still feel emotion long after memories have vanished
    A new University of Iowa study further supports an inescapable message: caregivers have a profound influence -- good or bad -- on the emotional state of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Patients may not remember a recent visit by a loved one or having been neglected by staff at a nursing home, but those actions can have a lasting impact on how they feel. The findings of this study are published in the September 2014 issue of the journal Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology. "Our findings…
  • The Last Days
    What kind of end-of-life care do you want? Don’t leave the burden of such decisions on your loved ones. Make a living will, which will speak for you when you are unable to, says lawyer Lyn Boxall. About two years ago, I answered a phone call from my sister. She lives in my home town, Adelaide in South Australia, and I’ve lived in Singapore for many years. “Mum was found unconscious on the floor of her bathroom this morning and now nothing she’s saying is making any…
  • "Our first clue that something was wrong was in 2012, when she started saying the same thing again and again"
    It may not seem like much, but for Maya, the daily battle over the bath is a sign of further deterioration as her 69-year-old mother slips deeper into her dementia, her personality changing, her memories fading, and simple everyday tasks becoming insurmountable hurdles.  http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/wellness/world-alzheimer-s-day-lack-of-help-care-in-india-for-patients/article1-1266659.aspx
  • Simple test can help detect Alzheimer's before dementia signs show, study shows
    York University researchers say a simple test that combines thinking and movement can help to detect heightened risk for developing Alzheimer's disease in a person, even before there are any telltale behavioural signs of dementia. "We included a task which involved moving a computer mouse in the opposite direction of a visual target on the screen, requiring the person's brain to think before and during their hand movements," says Sergio in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science. "This…
  • A Marriage to Remember - a filmmaker explores how Alzheimer’s disease has revealed the strength of his parents’ marriage
     "The experience of caring for someone with Alzheimer's can be incredibly isolating, at a time when you need support the most. We are grateful that this process has helped us come together as a family and as a community to celebrate that most precious gift of all : our memories"   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/opinion/a-marriage-to-remember.html?emc=edit_th_20140826&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=53809129&_r=0    
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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