Helping You Work Well with Family Caregivers

What do family caregivers want from health care professionals? Every year, we ask family caregivers about their experiences. We ask about the best parts and worst parts of caregiving. And, we ask about their experiences with health care professionals. We ask: What advice would you give to a healthcare professional who helps caregivers? Here's what family caregivers said: More compassion and appreciation for the caregiver. There is a lot more to it than just the medical and custodial aspects. It is very isolating. Take time to ask how they are doing. Let caregiver know they are doing a good job and not to feel guilty for taking respite time or having to place care recipient in a nursing home. Learn to understand that many behaviors of the affected cannot be helped. Try and help the caregiver feel relaxed about leaving their loved one. I would express great appreciation for their work. Listen, listen, listen. Help the caregiver along with affected person. Gentleness without "sentimentality". "Talking down" is a put-down. Put yourself in their shoes when advising them. Close your eyes and imagine you're the caregiver and it's your loved one before you give advice. Offer support groups. Call them weekly to see how things are going, let them know what is available. Be compassionate. Be flexible and understanding. Explain more things in plain English: Give it to us straight. Your job description may only include the patient, but a major part of helping the patient is helping the caregiver. Work as a team with the family to do what's best for the patient. Be open to suggestions from the family, without being defensive, but learn to makes suggestions with diplomacy. Don't be afraid to become "attached" to the patient. We wish doctors still made housecalls! Recognize us. Keep us up-to-date on new services or products, research and advances. Wear the shoes of the caregiver and the care recipient. Treat them with respect; help them, do not be judgmental. Realize that we are not professionals so don't always understand all the technical terms and we ask many questions. Be patient with us; we try to do our best. Call them back; be accessible. They are too busy to listen. Ask questions, make suggestions, don't keep old people waiting; I have learned patience; she has forgotten. Be considerate of needs. Patience, listen, go slow, explain clearly. Stress that they will need help. Be ready to listen. Listen to the caregiver and make suggestions that will help them understand what is going on with the recipient. Learn to recognize burn-out. Listen, listen, listen. Explain medications and what the process toward diagnosis is. Give any information on support groups and how to contact them. Ask how they are coping. Include them in discussions. Take time to explain in lay person's language. Be understanding. Listen to them. Please do not speak to me as if I am not involved. I am taking care of this person more than you are and my opinions and my "two cents" may just help you if you listen. Understand what we caregivers go through in this and respect that. Yes, you have a difficult job and so do we. Our reason for being there is the same. To help the care recipient. Listen to what is being said and offer options. Would like to have more examples of ways to deal with various situations, i.e., dialogue. Don't stay detached. Caregivers need to know you care for the care recipient before they can act on your advice. Listen. Realize that the caregiver is not a trained nurse. We do not know how to do the simple things such as how to give a bed patient a sponge bath, how to get a patient to take their medicine when they don't want it. The whole family needs help, not just the patient. Encouragement; words of acknowledgment and support. Be supportive, let them vent. You can't fix everything, though. Keep up with research in your field of expertise, especially that which relates to Alzheimer's disease. Be less aggressive to take over tasks. To keep caregiver up-to-date on progression of illness or what to expect. More information. Tell a friend about this article:

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