Support for Caregivers

Visiting a loved one daily is a unique challenge for caregivers, and often unrealistic.  Read below to see how we were able relieve one family of a daily trip. 

The daily phone call.

Vanessa called us earlier this summer because she was worried about her mom, Pam.  Her mother had been calling her every morning with anxiety, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath.  Pam had recently recovered from COVID so they took her to the hospital and doctor to see if there were lingering health issues.  They came to the conclusion that she was having anxiety attacks. Vanessa was stressed and tired because she had been going every morning to make sure her mom was ok. Vanessa did not know what to do next and asked us to come for a comprehensive assessment to see if her mom had care needs she was missing and if there were ideas we might have to help.   

Assessing needs.

 Pam has a diagnosis of dementia and during our assessment, she had moments of confusion and memory loss.  Her medications were not organized and it was hard to tell if she was remembering to take the correct amount of pills.  There was food in the house but since she had been losing weight they were worried that she was not eating well.  After her bout with COVID several months ago she did physical therapy through home health, but that had ended so she did not have a plan to keep up her strength. 



Support for the caregiver.

Our team met with them and came up with several solutions.  We recommended that she get a caregiver in the mornings for company, to help with medications, and to get her day started with a good breakfast.  We recommended a personal trainer for continued strengthening.  We planned to visit twice a week for emotional support, expert oversight, and troubleshooting.

The top two goals were:

1) For Pam to feel less stressed in the mornings and

2) To relieve Vanessa from the obligation of visiting daily.

With the new plan of care, Pam is not feeling daily anxiety and is not calling her daughter every morning for help. Vanessa is now visiting 2-3 times a week instead of daily and has time to visit with her grandchildren and go out of town with her husband.

If you are exhausted by daily trips to care for your aging loved one we would love to help with a consultation to assess the current and future care needs. 706-756-5625