 |
 |
>What do you caregivers do, >to prevent your stress factors and >personal frustrations from >coming out against a patient? - Both caregiver and patient need to acknowledge that it can be a frustrating situation for both of them - Caregiving can be exhausting, both physically and especially mentally. Some PWPs have difficulty communicating and its surprising how much additional mental effort is required on behalf of the caregiver. - Especially when significant mental effort is involved, it is important for the caregiver to have frequent, short breaks. 5 mins every 30 mins or maybe more. A "break" may be as simple as "Go and make a cup of tea" or it could be "Sit down and watch TV" - The patient has lost control of their life due to their illness. One way of compensating for this is to get the caregiver to do things. This leads to loss of control for the caregiver. A balance needs to be found. I've seen good and bad "professional" caregivers, and good and bad "amateurs" - so I don't think it matters if you're being paid. We're all human, and the emotions that can be exposed in the patient/caregiver interaction need to be treated with sensitivity, care, and honesty - regardless of the relationship between the two parties. I think caregiving is a "skill", and there's probably a degree of skill to being a Patient. Good, open, honest communication is a good start, and a sense of humour is absolutely vital. Someone at some point should write a book about how to be a caregiver. Ho Hum. Simon (an ex-Caregiver, if you can ever be such a thing) -- --------- My opinions are my own, NIP's opinions are theirs ---------- Simon J. Coles Email: [log in to unmask] New Information Paradigms Work Phone: +44 1344 753703 http://www.nipltd.com/ Work Fax: +44 1344 753742 =============== Life is too precious to take seriously ===============