Caregivers – Save Yourselves! Protect your health to protect the ones you love.

Family caregivers don’t start off planning to be on call 24 hours a day, to fill their days multi-tasking, eating on the run, and focusing their lives around the needs of someone else. Everyone knows that is an un-healthy lifestyle-ripe for stress related illnesses. Family caregivers are usually motivated by love and are responding to the needs of someone they love. Events and responsibilities sometimes become larger than one person can manage on their own. Some caregivers find ways and help to provide the care their loved one needs without harming their own physical and mental health, others don’t. The ones that don’t are at risk of health issues and pre-mature death.

A study in 1999 showed “that being a caregiver who is experiencing mental or emotional strain is an independent risk factor for mortality among elderly spousal caregivers. Caregivers who report strain associated with caregiving are more likely to die than noncaregiving controls. Those with disabled spouses but providing no help and those helping a disabled spouse but reporting no strain did not have significantly higher mortality rates than noncaregivers.” The differences were related to the physical and mental health of the care provider. 1

Family caregivers of any age are less likely than noncaregivers to practice preventive healthcare and self-care behavior for a variety of reasons. Often they feel like there is a lack of time or financial resources. For whatever reason they tend to deprive themselves of sleep, good nutrition, exercise, rest when they are sick, and preventive medical care. They often feel isolated and alone with their responsibilities. They feel like they have no choices.

There is a choice however. Caregivers are not really all alone. There is help available in our community and support to make healthier decisions every day. Caregivers need to assume one more responsibility. They must assume responsibility for themselves and their own health.

It may be hard to take the first step asking for help or information once a person has convinced themselves that they are alone and doing things the only way they can be done, but the choice is take care of yourself or put yourself and the person you are caring for at risk. There is a reason we are cautioned to put our oxygen mask on first and then take care of the people we are responsible for every time we fly. Airlines know that there are some people who think of others first, even when faced with lack of air to breathe. The consequence is that they pass out and there is no one to take care of the people they are responsible for. Then the emergency becomes even worse! Family caregivers must take care of themselves to minimize risks for the people they are responsible for.

There are many great businesses and organizations all across the United States that provide services and information to help family caregivers provide care in a healthy way. It won’t take much time to check out these links which are for local businesses and agencies.

Aging Partners/Caregivers Support www.lincoln.ne.gov/aging
Caring Concepts www.caringconcepts.org
Home Access Solutions resource links www.HomeAccessSolutions.com
Nebraska Care Planning Council www.carenebraska.com
Southwest8Senior Services www.southwest8.org
The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging www.enoa.org
The Respite Resource Center www.respitenetwork.org
The league of Human Dignity www.leagueofhumandignity.com

There is also a great radio talk show called “The Art of Aging” which is on Thursdays 4:00pm on KCRO 660 AM Hosted by Dale Percival & Cathy Wyatt from Financial Visions, LLC. Tuning into a radio program is easy and you don’t have to leave home.

Finally, I strongly recommend that family caregivers find a way to attend a Family Caregiver Retreat, “ A time for You” April 27 & 28th at Mahoney State Park as a way to jumpstart their resolution to find ways to care for themselves in addition to others. People will gain emotional, physical, emotional, and mental respite in addition to meeting others who are leading similar lives and leaving with constructive ideas for future success as a caregiver. Honestly I don’t think most caregivers I’ve met can afford to miss this. Download the flyer for information on events, respite options and funding, lodging, and potential room and registration scholarships. Call Donna Washburn at 1 800-247-0938 for information.

Please share the news and share the video. Spread the word about the retreat and resources to help the family caregiver save themselves.

1 Shultz, Richard and Beach, Scott (1999). Caregiving as A Risk for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA, December 15, 1999 - Vol. 282, No.23

What is the cost of NOT using a stair glide?

Stair glides do cost money, especially if you buy them from a reputable, experienced dealer who can provide product knowledge and service. I see my clients tempted everyday to save a little money and just keep on struggling up and down the stairs. I think this falls into the “penny wise, pound foolish” category of thinking.

Sometimes it is easier for a person to see the need when they’ve experienced a traumatic event and go from having no problems on the stairs to difficulty with them over a short period of time. They feel the impact that problems moving within their homes cause more keenly, and they are looking for solutions.

When the problem with negotiating steps comfortably has developed over a long period of time it is usually harder for a person to see the need for equipment like a stair glide. They may or may not have noticed that it simply takes more effort to go up and down the stairs. Perhaps they accept their arthritis pain as normal and aren’t aware of the stress that the stairs puts on their joints. Or they stumble one day and realize that they really haven’t felt comfortably balanced while maneuvering on stairs for quite a while. I will usually suspect a problem with the stairs when a person describes their daily routine in a way that makes it evident that they are arranging their lives around avoiding the stairs. I’ve met people living in older 2 story homes, who limit the amount of water they drink during the day because they don’t want to have to use the stairs to get upstairs to the bathroom. I know so many people who gradually become recluses simply because it takes too much effort or is too frightening to navigate steps to get outside.

Other people have told me quite proudly that they would never consider a stair glide. When I ask why they tell me that they believe they need the exercise or that they believe that they’ve been told by their physician or therapist that the stairs are good exercise for them. Now, I rarely come right out and disagree with another health professional, but I think there is a time and place for exercise and an area where the consequence of a mis-step is a tumble down the stairs is not it! If you have balance or strength problems, exercise somewhere else in your home where a fall is less likely to kill you.

Here are a few things we look for other than stairwell width, height, and length when we are recommending stair glides. These factors influence they type of options and features we recommend as well as the cost.

• Can the client get up and down out of chair safely? Do they need things like handles or grab bars for balance?

• Is there room at the top and bottom of the stairs for wheelchairs or walkers now and in the future? If the client uses mobility equipment, are they prepared to have duplicate equipment at the top and bottom of the system?

• Are there any structural changes that need to be made such as moving handrails, modifying doors around the track, or providing convenient electrical outlets?

• Will the track itself create a trip hazard at either the top or bottom of their stairs? Will the track present a hazard to others on the stairs?

• Is there clearance for their head and knees when they are riding? We have modified door casings at the top of a stairwell to provide a vital 1.5” of space for a tall person.

• What is the client’s weight? Larger weight capacity chairs cost more, but are worth it in the long run for safety, and a longer useful life if a person is close or over the manufacturer’s posted weight limit.

• Where are good locations for call/send switches.

• What safety improvements can we make around the chair glide such as removal of clutter, removal of loose throw rugs, and improvement of lighting?

Compared to your safety, your independence, and the quality of every day living, a stair glide for a straight stairwell is usually pretty cheap. Curved stairwells or stairwells with landings are more expensive as the track is often customized but is still usually less expensive than moving or a trip to the emergency room and rehab. We think the quality of your life is worth at least considering a safe way to have use of every level of your home.

Modular Ramps – Good all year round!

People can’t always choose the time of year that they need to have a ramp installed. Modular aluminum ramps may be an option to get someone in the door of their home as fast as possible even when there is snow on the ground and ice everywhere.

Modular ramps can be installed on pavers and in a matter of hours. When a client needs us to provide a ramp mid-winter, we can set it up and then come back in the spring and make any minor leveling adjustments needed as the snow and ice melt away.

Modular ramps are actually a great option for a lot of people all year round. They are fast to install, have a high weight capacity, and require less maintenance over the years than most wood ramps. They come with a variety of handrail and landing options. Take a look at a comparison chart for Aluminum vs Wood produced by EZAccess™.

Modular ramps are popular with our clients who rent and also with landlords in town. It is simple for us to move the ramps from house to house and the modular design allows us to add or subtract pieces to keep the ramps at a safe slope. There is minimal impact on the property for the renter to fix when they leave.

So when you need access to your home and you are thinking ramps, keep modular ramps in mind as an option.