Your Care

(Each month, we take a closer look at an aspect of your caregiving experience. In September, our focus is helping you decide if you must choose between caregiving or your career.)

Caregiving or Your Career?

Making the best decision for you, your care recipient

By Denise M. Brown, Editor and Publisher

A few years ago, I received an e-mail from a young woman. She and her mother, for whom she cares, lived in a rural area, which limited accessibility to services for her mother. The young woman found it harder and harder to leave her mother during the day and go to work. Ultimately, she felt she had no choice: She quit her job to be a full-time caregiver.

Two weeks after making her decision, she wrote to me. Will the government pay for me to stay home and care for my mother, she asked? She couldn't afford not to work, but she felt she couldn't afford to leave her mother at home. She felt she had no options, no choices. And, even worse, she felt uncomfortable with her decision. She already felt the strain of no income and was struggling to come to terms with her decision.

Often, a family caregiver will feel that juggling two demanding roles, caregiver and employee, can be impossible. So, you may struggle with the most obvious options: Quit your job? Quit caregiving?

In this issue, we offer interviews with family caregivers who have faced the same decision. The family caregivers offer their insights about what worked for them, which may help you as you determine what will work best for you. In addition, we offer information to consider about your future financial well-being as well as considerations to keep in mind as you face the decision.

We hope, if you have face this decision, this issue will help you make a decision that will not haunt you, as it did my e-mailing caregiver.

Index of Articles:

Making the Decision: Points to Consider

Joyce's Story: Look in the Mirror

Vicki's Story: Sometimes, life is more important than a career

Care for Your Financial Future