People train for marathons, hikes and bike rides. But can you train to withstand the challenges of elder care?
A series of new studies and reports on the emotional, physical and financial challenges of caring for aged or disabled loved ones suggest it might be a good idea. The nearly 1 in 5 Americans who provide elder care face a sharply higher-than-average risk of dying themselves, research shows. And nearly half of U.S. workers say they expect to be providing elder care at some time during the next five years, the Families and Work Institute reports. (This recent SmartMoney piece highlights some of the hidden financial costs of caregiving.)
We recently had the opportunity to review “The Daughter Trap” by Laurel Kennedy. In her book Laurel champions the need for a “superhero” – she urgies caregivers of adults to stop suffering in silence, and the need for high profile figures who can bring to the fore the plight of caregivers and the growing need to highlight eldercare issues and the stress of caring for a loved one suffering with dementia. Former UK ITN presenter John Suchet is just that. Last year he announced his wife Bonnie had dementia. The reaction –
“It was a tsunami. I received hundreds of thousand of e-mails and letters from all across the world, all from carers saying that’s what we’re going through. Thank you for talking about it.”
The LA Times reviews, “Passages in Caregiving,” by Gail Sheehy .
The author who became known for identifying the changes people experience at different points in their lives once again does that here. She says caregivers go through eight turning points, which she labels Shock and Mobilization, the New Normal, Boomerang, Playing God, “I Can’t Do This Anymore!,” Coming Back, the In-Between Stage and the Long Good-Bye.
