How Ready Are You to Be a Caregiver?
Although there are nearly one million caregivers in Alberta, the increasingly aging population guarantees that number will surge in the coming years. So, the odds that you will become a caregiver are high.
However, most of us are not ready to take on this challenging role. It’s not surprising and it’s no judgment of you as a relative of the loved one who needs care, or as a person.
For any new role we take on in life, we might have some attributes or experiences that help us quickly adapt. But we also learn new skills and acquire new information to help us develop in the role as we go along. Becoming a caregiver is no different.
From the beginning, it’s important to assess your readiness for both you and the person you are caring for — as well as your own family if you have one. We have provided a few factors along which you can rate yourself on a scale to see how ready you are.
No caregiving experience is perfect. So, it’s not about avoiding all the hiccups and hitches that come with the journey. It’s really important to remember that because any tendency toward perfectionism can derail your caregiving role from the very start. Also, it’s not about being some incarnation of a caregiver superhero.
Instead, it’s about using the scale we provide here (from very ready to not ready at all) to determine your weaknesses and strengths. When a particular attribute or lifestyle situation proves to be a weakness as it relates to caregiving readiness, it simply means that is an area for you to work on.
As time goes on, you won’t need to try so hard on those weaknesses because you will be putting permanent solutions into place. Whether it’s relying on your strengths or building up your weaknesses, the goal is to be as effective, efficient and compassionate a caregiver as possible.
And, of course, it should all be done in combination with looking after yourself as well.
10 Factors to Determine Your Readiness as a Caregiver
For each of the factors below, rate yourself as follows:
5 — Very ready
4 — Ready
3 — Somewhat ready
2 — A little ready
1 — Not ready at all
Relationship with Your Loved One
Without question, having a good relationship with your loved one can impact the kind of care you provide. If you have always had a close and mutually supportive relationship, you are more likely to be compassionate and empathetic — both vital to good caregiving.
You are also more likely to have good communication with each other. This plays several critical roles in caregiving. It prevents misunderstandings from occurring, for instance, about prescriptions, pain levels, or anxieties around medical care.
The closer you are to your loved one, the more likely you are to also pick up on nonverbal communication, such as changes in mood, motivation, or levels of activity. In short, good communication with your loved one can be the difference between effective, proactive care and poor care with potentially dangerous consequences.
Another reason why a good relationship matters so much is that you are less likely to feel resentful. The reality is some caregivers do resent the role, especially if they have never been on good terms with the person for whom they have to care. It can compromise the care they provide and their own emotional and mental health.
Patience
Learning of any kind requires patience. You won’t be able to figure out everything your loved one needs and what you have to do to meet those needs overnight.
Most people who need a caregiver have a chronic health condition. Medical and caregiving professionals are learning every day about how to provide the best care for those conditions. You will be no different. Remembering that will help you to be patient with yourself as you begin your caregiving journey.
Patience will also be necessary because some people who need care can be difficult and even adversarial. They are losing their independence and might be also experiencing fear about this unknown stage of their lives. Again, being patient will make you much more effective at going through this turbulent journey with them.
Problem-solving Ability
Caregiving is fraught with challenges. If you will be taking on a significant amount of caregiving for your loved one, you will often be the person who has to find solutions to those challenges or, at least, collaborate with your loved one to do so.
Take a look at your life and try to objectively assess how you typically handle problems, especially difficult ones. Do you tend to recognize a problem quickly or do you tend to be in denial for a while? Do you often recognize potential problems and figure out how to prevent them?
Are you intimidated by problems, or are you proactive about them? And are you more focused on a positive outcome for everyone involved are you more concerned with being right?
If problem-solving is a weakness for you, it’s fair to say that it is one weakness you should focus on improving right away. After all, the need for care is a big challenge in itself.
Responsibilities
Whether you are a 15-year-old or 55-year-old caregiver, the number of responsibilities you have on your plate will affect how much care you can give. Responsibilities take up the most precious resources you have — time.
They also make a huge demand on brain power and emotional health. Combined with other areas of your life, multitasking becomes a must. However, studies show that multitasking can negatively impact short-term and working memory.
Also, multitasking often leads to lower quality work, more distractibility, more mistakes, and being less productive. These consequences can lower the quality of care you provide for your loved one.
When you become a caregiver, it’s wise to assess how many responsibilities you currently have. Chances are some of these you can relinquish or delegate (see next factor) to focus on becoming the best caregiver you can be.
Delegation
Caregiver burden and burnout are very real. Taken by itself, the daily or frequent caregiving duties and their importance to your loved one’s overall wellbeing can be a lot to shoulder.
Then there are the responsibilities and obligations you have in your own life — including raising children or climbing the career ladder. Taken all together, you see why delegating is essential.
Asking other family members and friends to pitch in is a step in the right direction. But you also have options in your community, for instance, in-home professional caregivers.
A variety of factors might prevent you from delegating as much as you should. They include liking to be in control, believing that no one else can meet your standards, and being afraid your relationship with your loved one will change.
Work Demands
If you are employed when you become a caregiver you should be fully aware that caregiving will impact your job.
Seventy percent of employed caregivers report work-related challenges in their dual roles. Almost one in 20 family caregivers reduce the hours they work or quit working altogether.
Employed caregivers also report more stress and an increase in absences and tardiness. And caregiving can reduce productivity at work by 18.5 percent.
Getting additional support from family members, friends, community programs, or professional caregivers can help to reduce the impact caregiving has on your work life.
You should also be speaking to your employer, manager and colleagues about your role as a caregiver. Their support can make a huge difference. If they aren’t supportive, you should consider looking for alternative employment, including self-employment opportunities.
Financial Wellness
Caregiving for elderly parents costs Canadians about $33 billion annually in direct and indirect costs, including out-of-pocket costs and time missed from work. This was the finding of a CIBC Economics report called Who Cares: The Economics of Caring for Aging Parents.
For many caregivers, the financial toll is one of the most challenging consequences of their role. If you are already struggling financially, the cost of caregiving can be devastating to you and your family. It will also reduce the quality of care you can directly provide to your loved one, or the medical decisions you all make together.
Support Network
Not only does having a support network help to alleviate some of the stress of caregiving, but it can also reduce its perceived burden.
A meta-analysis (a review of multiple studies) published in PLoS One found a moderate link between having the impression of getting social support and a lower perception of burden by caregivers. It also impacted how stressful they found a situation.
Having the necessary support in place can also reduce depression, increase your attention to taking care of yourself, and improve your overall quality of life. Plus, it will also increase the quality of care your loved one receives.
Desire to Learn
If you are a champion of continuous learning, you have a significant advantage as a caregiver. Your loved one — and you — will be going through very unfamiliar experiences, emotions and challenges.
The more knowledge you have, the more effective you will be as a caregiver. And that means your loved one will experience better care outcomes and quality of life.
These days, you can find a wealth of caregiving resources online and in books. However, many communities also offer training programs for family caregivers, especially for those who are coping with a loved one’s serious chronic condition, like dementia or cancer.
Self Care
Are you the type of person who takes time out to look after yourself? Do you eat nutritious meals, for the most part, or exercise regularly? Do you regular practise stress-management techniques, such as meditation or yoga? Are you sleep-deprived? Or do you have a chronic medical condition of your own?
Your current health status and health and wellness routines are extremely important in general. But for caregiving — which is notorious for the stress it causes, the physical demands and the time it takes — self-care is paramount.
Last Words
When rating each of the factors here, try to be as honest as possible. Only you will know the outcome. Again, focus especially on those areas you determine are weaknesses to become as ready as possible to be the best caregiver for your loved one.
Sources:
Outcomes & Insights in Health Management: Estimating the Impact of Caregiving and Employment on Well-Being
http://www.advancingstates.org/hcbs/article/estimating-impact-caregiving-and-employment-well-being
CIBC Economics, In Focus: Who Cares: The Economics of Caring For Aging Parents
