The Practical Caregiver's Workbook: Quality of Life Caregiving: The Practical Caregiver's Workbook, #2

By Sara M. Barton

Quality of life is a critical element of family caregiving, especially for patients with serious illnesses. Whether your loved one is coping with challenging treatments, dealing with aging issues, or trying to manage a disease like cancer, there are ways you can improve the situation through better caregiver psychology, appointment/schedule/routine management, improved communications, and smarter multi-tasking. When you meet the real needs of the patient, your loved one will enjoy improved quality of life and so will you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Barton
• Release date: Dec 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386899426

Sara M. Barton

Sara M. Barton is the author of several popular cozy mystery series that often feature humor, romance, and pets, but no ghosts, witches, or psychics (It’s not that she thinks these are bad books; it’s that she’s more of a traditionalist when it comes to cozies.) She’s the author of a new historical mystery called The Pantomime Double-Cross, with a heroine who has lived a secret life for forty-five years, unbeknownst to family and friends. Under the pen name of S. M. Barton, she’s written several espionage thrillers, including The Mirrors: A Moscow Joe Cyberspy Thriller. Once she wraps up the final chapter of her old life, Sara’s slated to begin her new life and tackle her overdue bucket list. When she’s not writing, she loves to get outside and enjoy nature, especially after hip replacement: “If my new hip were a man, I would marry him in a heartbeat for all the right reasons. He’s good to me, takes me wherever I want to go, and he’s fun to be around. Perfect qualities in a mate.” Happy Reading! The Practical Caregiver Guides website: https://practicalcaregiverguides.org Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sarabartonmysteries/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bartonmysteries Cozy Mystery Series: The Scarlet Wilson Mysteries revolve around innkeeper Scarlet Wilson and her knack for stumbling into murder most foul. The eight-book series is laced with humor and romance. The Cornwall & Company Mysteries chronicle “Marigold Flowers” and her life on the run as she escapes from ruthless contract killers with the help of Jefferson Cornwall.

Book preview

The Practical Caregiver’s Workbook:

Quality of Life Caregiving

By Sara M. Barton

Book Information

Draft2Digital Edition

Copyright 2018 Sara M. Barton

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever, without the express written permission of the authorized publisher, Sara M. Barton, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Introduction

Are you a family caregiver struggling to take care of a loved one? Do you feel like you are part of an invisible workforce that toils in the darkness, unseen by other human beings? Take heart. According to researchers, more than forty million family caregivers in the United States contribute more than thirty seven billion hours of time and energy each year to provide care for their loved ones. That’s right. There are more than forty million other folks doing what you do. And many of us are finding the work as hard as you are. We are out there in the caregiver trenches every day and night, trying to do right by the people we love. It’s not always easy, but we do the best that we can. If we’re smart, we ask ourselves one thing: Can I do this better, not just for me, but also for my loved one?

Effective quality-of-life caregiving is an art in and of itself. There are plenty of people who have learned to maximize their time and energy for work and for home. But what happens when a loved one is seriously ill and there’s no way to predict what will happen next? How do you insure your loved one has what he or she needs to thrive when conditions are complicated?

Living with uncertainty is extremely stressful, especially with a disease like cancer. Your loved one might be undergoing treatments that cause all kinds of complications and have serious side effects. What you, as a caregiver, do during this time will all depend on the specific needs that your loved one has at each moment in time. And that can change in the blink of an eye.

Understanding how to adapt your care to go with the flow is one way to effectively manage your daily to do list as a caregiver. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. How will you handle emergencies that crop up on this bumpy road? Even if your loved one has a disease that can be effectively managed right now, there are still going to be significant challenges. If it’s COPD or heart disease, there is likely to be progression down the road. If symptoms increase and the situation becomes unstable, you will have even greater constraints on your time. It helps to recognize the likely changes early on and plan accordingly. If X happens, we have options to do Y and Z....

Unfortunately, there is no clear route for where you are going. You and your loved one will share a unique journey. But you can be better prepared by being proactive. When you begin to understand the common challenges that many caregivers and patients go through, you can begin to select options for you and your loved one, to manage the problems and maximize the quality of life you share.

Do you have to be a super-organized person to get through these challenges? No, not really. What you do have to be is a quality-of-life caregiver. If you focus on what strategies and actions provide the most compassionate care and the best practical livability for you and your loved one, you will take care of both your needs. Does that sound like a contradiction, to be both compassionate and practical? It really isn’t. You need to have a realistic view of what you, as a caregiver, can provide, because if you drive yourself too hard, you will wind up being unable to care for your loved one. There will be times you will need help, either from volunteers (family members, friends, neighbors,