Managing My Mom's Caregiver Crew

My mom has three full time caregivers and one part-time caregiver. At the end of their shift, each caregiver will email a report of mom's activities, eating habits, daily mental and physical activities, and anything unusual to my designated head caregiver. She provides me a daily email report every morning and will call me just to chat. The head caregiver, who is a former nurse, does all the Safeway delivery orders, Netflix request, conducts blood pressure testing every week, ability to request an emergency caregiver through an agency, and someone I TRUST.

This caregiving system allows mom to stay in her own home and gives me a LIFE after several years of taking care of mom. It's not the perfect system because it's extremely expensive but my work provides the income to make it work.

Care.com - New Resource for Families Seeking Caregivers

Families, there is a new nationwide resource for finding that special caregiver for your love one. The new nationwide resource is http://www.care.com/. I joined up for a thirty days membership and found the service like a dating service.

I entered all the necessary information of my mom who has dementia and checked off the requirements for the caregivers. Based on my requirements the best caregiver for my mom is between the age of 26 to 30 years old, a non-smoker, no caregiver agency, has transportation with insurance and lives within 5 miles of my mom's house. Mom still lives in her home. The caregiver data search delivered six possible caregivers.

If you like a specific caregiver you can send a message to the caregiver to set up an appointment. Care.com provides a limited background check or for a fee provides you with a indepth background check. The bottom line for any search for a caregiver is the depth of qualified caregivers that meets your qualifications. So far I have not found that special caregiver for my mom. I'm a little unusual because I currently manage a staff of three caregivers and one part timer. I designated one of my caregivers, a former emergency nurse and has a strong management background to be my head caregiver. I live in Los Angeles but I visit mom almost every other week.

Mom's caregivers take her out to shopping centers, doggie parks and senior citizen activity centers every day. Two of my caregivers are filipina and speaks Tagalog however, mom does not speak the language anymore. Finding the right caregiver was not easy.... Craigslist, word-of-mouth, caregivers agencies, nursing schools; all the above. I have a person who can provide a detail background check and I am now experienced in qualifiying caregivers on the phone and during my indepth interviews. The bottom line is the interaction between mom and the caregiver. I wish care.com was available several years ago as one more resource.

Life after CareGiving for your Love One

Life after Caregiving for your Love One begins with the death or extreme health concerns or because you just lost it. I lost it. I lost the patience to deal with someone with dementia. It can happen after one year or several years. I had caregivers to help me with mom and give me a break but I just lost it.

I began my life by hiring a live-in caregiver but after 6 months she couldn't handle it by herself. I have now three full-time caregivers and one part-time caregiver working two 10 hour shifts. I have also designated one caregiver as the staff leader that each caregiver sends their reports to. The staff leader has the ability to hire a temporary caregiver through an agency when needed. I'm also looking for a new caregiver to replace one of the staff caregivers when she graduates from nursing school.

I am in the best health of my life but I am still responsible for the management and care of my mom. I have a "What If" plan in case something happens to me...a domino phone call takes place to make sure mom will always be taken care of. I can now take a deep breath, read my newspapers, drink my Peet's coffee and share my life with someone.

"Four Kinds of People In the World"

Rosalyn Carter, wife of President Jimmy Carter, said it best: " There are only four kinds of people in the world - those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers."

Quotations, Quotations, Quotations

"My years as a medical practitioner, as well as my own first-hand experience, have taught me how important self-help groups are in assisting their members in dealing with problems, stress, hardship and pain...the benefits of mutual aid are experienced by millions of people who turn to others with a similar problem to attempt to deal with their isolation, powerlessness, alienation, and the awful feeling that nobody understands. Health and human service providers are learning that they can indeed provide a superior service when they help their patients and clients find appropriate peer support."

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD

Mutual support groups, involving little or no cost to particpants, have a powerful effect on mental and physical health. The psychological and physical health importance of this diffuse community is striking...The self-help movement, both in face-to-face and virtual arenas has tremendous therapeutic potential."

American Psychologis feature article "Who Talks? The Social Psychology of Illness Supportr Groups" by K. P. Davison, J. W. Pennebaker & S.S. Dickerson

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

Helen Keller

Quotations provided by ED

First, Care for Yourself

"On an airplane, an oxygen mask descends in front of you. What do you do? As we all know, the first rule is to put on your oxygen mask before you assist anyone else. Only when we first help ourselves can we effectively help others. Caring for your yourself is one of the most important - and one of the most often forgotten - things you can do as a caregiver. When your needs are taken care of, the person you care for will benefit, too...."

Family Caregiver Alliance
http://tiny.cc/TwwAM