Who Cares for the Primary Care Giver?
Question: When the primary care giver is in need of care and convalescence, who steps up to provide the care needed for them? Unfortunately, for many families, the answer is I don’t know. Most families have that one person, who through design or by default, takes on the role of the primary care giver to all others in the family. Others may chip in and contribute, but that primary care giver seems to be there for all the doctor appointments and has a firm grasp on all the subtle needs and advocates for those needs above and beyond all else. But what happens when the one person everyone depends on suddenly needs someone to advocate for them?
As the Marketing Director for a home health agency you might think that I would encourage everyone to beat down my doors and ask for Best Home Care Services to take on that role of a care giver (and we would be happy to do it) but first I would ask for both families and patients to create a plan of action first. Sometimes, people know that they are going to have a procedure well in advance and hopefully they use that time wisely to plan for the care needed after the procedure. Sometimes, emergencies happen and those around the patient in crisis are taken by complete surprise and are left scrambling to provide the care needed for proper recovery. Without a question, my sister is the primary care giver for my father. She is his champion when it comes to concerns and advocacy as she accompanies him to his various physician appointments every year…she goes so she knows the whole story of his health. She makes it a priority and she does a really good job of sharing information with other members of the family as to the state of our father’s health. What would the plan be if something where to happen to my sister, who would take care of her and my father? This is where planning comes in to play.
Planning for the care of an individual requires some forethought, depending on the circumstances, if it is a scheduled medical procedure or a medical emergency. Planning for home care can be as simple as family members sorting out who will be available to take care of things like driving to or from appointments, cooking meals if needed, housekeeping, managing medications, communicating with other family members, etc. There are plenty of things that need to be done in a primary care takers role. If there are no family or friends available to provide post-procedure care at home, then most hospitals will work with agencies (much like Best Home Care Services) to arrange services to help with care at home. If there is a question as to the reliability of the help you might need, having an advanced directive in place before might help alleviate concerns that might crop up in either an emergency or a planned hospital stay. Whatever pathway you choose to take when it comes to care at home, planning it out beforehand will reduce stress which helps speed up the recovery. As always, thanks for reading and again, I encourage everyone to consider planning for post medical treatment by discussing it with family members or by developing an advanced medical directive so that your needs are met when you need it most. I hope everyone has a great weekend, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
325 N Eastern Ave
Connersville, IN 47331
765-827-9833
wmreid@bhcshealth.com