Publisher's Synopsis
Caregivers can be spouses, partners, adult children, parents, other relatives (siblings, aunts, nieces/nephews, in-laws, grandchildren), friends, neighbors. Whatever your relationship with the person you're caring for, it's important that you add the title caregiver to the list of things you are. Without identifying yourself as a caregiver, you won't know to search for resources that can help you navigate this new role.
But caregivers play other roles as well. You may be employed full or part-time. You may be raising children, or be a volunteer, a spouse, have other family commitments. Adding caregiving to that list can easily lead to frustration and exhaustion. You might need to navigate social service systems, call doctors while you're at work, advocate for the care receiver, and take care of their day-to-day needs, while you try to do all of those same things for yourself and your family.You are rarely trained to do the broad range of tasks you are asked to do as a caregiver. As a result, you may end up, for example, with back strain because you haven't had the benefit of training from a physical therapist on how to correctly transfer someone from bed to chair, or wheelchair to car. Or you find yourself battling with your mother who has Alzheimer's because you have not learned the skills necessary to communicate with someone with a cognitive impairment.
