“Judy’s Story” is a beautiful tribute and the honor of a loving daughter caring for her ailing mother. It analyzes the struggle a child goes through caring for an ailing parent and the phases involved in caregiving. Although the stages are valid, the true caregiver burden is reflected in the emotions they emit and the means to deal with them. Having lived through the same struggle myself this past year I am qualified to comment on the stages as well as verify the process from my own perspective. Through this document we will compare and contrast the two experiences as well as look at how these stages can apply to a multitude of life experiences not only those relating to caregiving and grief described in “Judy’s Story.” As described by the author Judy Culter, caregiving is a set of stages we need to pass through in order to come to terms with the state of affairs we find ourselves in and in the end, helping us cope with death of a loved one. Caregiver burden is defined as “problems and stress due to caregiving” and home care is defined as “a range of social and medical services, designed to help people live independently in the community.” Judy’s “Seven Stages of Caregiving” is similar to the grief model of Dr. Kubler-Ross, who studied Thanatology (the study of death) and wrote the book On Death and Dying, published in 1969. Her model outlines the stage’s a caregiver, the dying and the bereaved go through when dealing with personal trauma or change. This model was introduced in therapy sessions I attended to help cope with my situation and is also prominent when instilling change management in work related issues. From her biographical details, I am assuming she also is a Baby Boomer and a mother like me. Although her story ... ... middle of paper ... ...ing personal change or trauma, including relationship break ups, financial distress, personal injury or work change management. . Works Cited Aronson, Jane. "WOMEN'S SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CARE OF OLD PEOPLE:." Gender and Society March 1992: 8-29. Campbell, Mark Novak and Lori. Aging and Society, A Canadian Perspective. Toronto: Nelson Education Ltd, 2009. Culter, Judy. "Judy's Story." Course Kit. n.d. Cutler,Judy. "The Seven Stages of Caregiving." Course Kit. n.d. Delmling, S. Walter Poulshock Gary T. "Families in Caring for Elders in Residence: Issues in the Measurement of Burden." Journal of Gerentology 1984: 230-239. 22 10 2013. . Kubler-Ross. http://www.debbest.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Kubler-Ross.jpg. n.d. 20th October 2013. Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969.
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Alice Elliott Dark’s In the Gloaming, represents how much family time is important to one’s heart. “…caregiving must be a way of life. This does not mean that caregiving is all of life.” Alice shows the opposite of good family time to hint at the reader of what is really going on behind the scenes. The author “pulls the reader directly into the world of caregiving by dramatizing the meaning of reciprocal human relationships. It also highlights some of the central themes of this book- that there is a difference between caring as sentiment and caring as practice, that caring is crucial to the human community, and that it entails skills that can be taught and learned.” The main character, Laird, was a normal teenager who liked to have fun and hang out with his friends. Laird and his parents did not have the closest relationship but they would still talk about certain things. Everything was turned upside down for Laird, his parents and somewhat for his sister as well. He became very sick with an unnamed illness. Laird never wanted to talk to his parents about the illness because he was embarrassed.
Even when at sixty Granny believed she was dying, Granny overcame the sickness because she endured. Endurance is a means of persevering through adversity. Granny recalls riding out to women having babies and sitting with sick animals and people and hardly ever losing one. Granny was not self-absorbed but became involved in helping others through their problems. Mentoring a person suffering an adversity is a chance to help them but also a chance to make use of a personal adversity and persevere. Joseph Wiesenfarth asserts Granny’s children are her consolation for the pain suffered in her life (“Internal Opposition” 106). The attentiveness of Cornelia and the rushing of Lydia and Jimmy to be at their dying mother’s bedside points not to children who consoled their mother but of a mother who consoled her children overcoming adversity for the sake of their future. Focusing on the future is a means of perseverance through
Roberto, K. A., & Jarrott, S. E. (2008, January). Family Caregivers of Older Adults: A Life Span Perspective. Family Relations , 100-111.
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For this observation assignment I chose to observe Doris. Doris is a seventy-six year old volunteer at the day care I work at. I have been observing Doris over a course of ten weeks and have spoken with her on many occasions. Doris lost her husband fourteen years ago after a short illness. The anniversary of his passing is coming up within a few days of Thanksgiving. When we began speaking of him, I observed the change in Doris’ demeanor. She is still grieving over this loss.
The Canadian population of elderly people is growing rapidly, people are living longer lives. Naturally, this fact leads to the growing involvement of formal and informal support. Informal support is usually given by family and friends, if spouses are not able or have passed away, children are the next best bet for social and informal support. (309) One in five Canadians aged 45 and older have given assistance to an older family member or friend. (Cranswick & Dosman, 2008, 210) Informal support has many advantages but it also takes a toll on adult children who pursue it. An online article which goes into detail on the challenges faced when taking care of older parents is called “Caring for Elderly Parents Takes Toll on Caregivers” which is
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Caregivers may often experience decreases in immune system functioning, as well as increases in blood pressure (Haley, 2003; Weitzner, Haley, & Chen, 2000). With patients in advanced stages of cancer, patients are more likely to exhibit signs of distress because of the ways in which advanced patients require increased care and support (McMillan, 2005). Overall, caregiving affects the physical health of caregivers because the consistency of providing self care to a family member can exhaust and strain the caregiver (Roberto & Jarrott, 2008; Schulz & Sherwood, 2008). Many predictors of the wellness of a caregiver depend upon the problems with the patients behavior, cognitive deterioration, and any disabilities the patient may have. The amount of time that a caregiver spends providing assistance, and the demands of watching the patient to make sure they are safe can also contribute to the overall wellness of the caregiver (Schulz & Sherwood, 2008). Although many have studied the ways in which caregiving can create stress for the caregiver, there have also been reported positive effects of this role that are worth
In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a psychiatrist, published the Pioneering book On Death and Dying. The work acquainted the world with the grieving process, called the five stages of grief. Kübler-Ross gathered her research from studying individuals with terminal cancer (Johnson, 2007). The first stage of the grieving process is denial. In this stage the person refuses to believe that their loved one is deceased, a common thought during this period is, “This can’t be happening to me” (Johnson, 2007).The second stage of the grieving process is anger. In this level the person becomes frustrated with their circumstances, a customary complaint is “Why is this happening to me?” (Johnson, 2007). The third stage of the grieving process is bargaining. At this point the individual hopes that they can prevent their grief, this typically involves bartering with a higher power, and an ordinary observance during this time is “I will do anything to have them back” (Johnson, 2007). The fourth and most identifiable stage of grief is depression. This phase is habitually the lengthiest as...
Primary caregivers are given an opportunity to take care of their loved ones; however, this job comes with a lot of stress and its consequences (Tsai, 2003). Primary caregivers take care of those with a chronic illness such as a family member or friend, are given a task that is so immense that it induces a lot of stress. In the previous decades, many research articles have developed studies which focused on stressors that were associated with the task of being the primary caregiver; yet, a theory surrounding this topic has not been developed until the early 2000s. Tsai (2003) developed the Theory of Caregiver Stress based on the Roy Adaptation Model to identify the caregiver’s response, perceptions, and adaptations to the stress and burden that primary caregiver’s experience.
Hooyman, N., & Kiyak, H. A. (2011). Social gerontology: A multidisciplinary perspective (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (Original work published 2005)
According to the Caregiver Action Network, an estimated 65 million Americans currently serve as caregivers for loved ones who are aging or disabled. This number is likely even higher, but many individuals decline to call themselves caregivers. For many, taking care of family in their time of need is the right and necessary thing to do. Whether they use the title or not, proving care for a loved one is no small task. In order to ensure the best quality of life for both caregiver and care recipient, it is necessary to understand what caregiving entails and the impact it has on day-to-day life.