Photo by Jsme MILA

Quality in-home senior care is essential to the healthcare system because it provides alternative care outside hospitals. That’s why caregivers are our unsung heroes.

Caregivers are very important pillars in the healthcare system, providing invaluable support to patients and their families. Sadly, they are also unsung heroes for the simple reason that their services don’t often occur within more visible institutions, and, as such, they have been mostly neglected by the media spectacle.

Yet, despite this snub, caregivers continue onward, trudging along. They offer a variety of aid and support outside the hospital system, providing physical assistance with daily activities, emotional labor, and advocacy. Caregivers are the unsung heroes of the healthcare system, and it is high time their contributions aren’t overlooked.

Our Unsung Heroes 

Though often glanced over, caregivers are the very people who provide care to others who are sick, disabled, or elderly, especially when they are outside medical institutions. They are the ones who are at the frontlines, providing quality in-home senior care and more. Caregivers are often family members, friends, or even neighbors. At the heart of caregiving is the desire to do good with the community, and caregivers come from across a wide range of backgrounds. The diversity of their services includes:

• Physical assistance: This includes help with bathing, dressing, eating, and toileting.
• Emotional support: This is achieved by listening, offering advice, and being a shoulder to cry on.
• Advocacy: This is done by communicating with healthcare providers and making sure that they are receiving the best possible care.
• Miscellaneous: Caregivers may also provide transportation to and from medical appointments. They may prepare meals or help with meal planning and help with laundry, cleaning, and other household chores.

How Caregivers Help Prop up Healthcare

Caregivers play a vital role in patient well-being within the tangled healthcare system of the United States. They provide invaluable support to patients and their families. Without caregivers, the broader healthcare system would be severely hampered. That’s why it is not a stretch to say that they are the unsung heroes of the system.

Studies have shown that people who are infirm can receive better health outcomes with caregivers. Stress and anxiety among both patients and their loved ones also diminish with the presence of caregivers. The support offered by caregivers is invaluable: they help patients stay more informed about their condition, coordinate care with healthcare providers, make sure that medications, as prescribed, are taken consistently, pain is managed effectively, and provide end-of-life care.

While caregiving has its benefits, and it can be an incredibly rewarding experience, it also has its fair share of challenges:

• Emotional stress due to the demands of caregiving.
• Physical strain from lifting and moving patients.
• Financial hardship due to the costs of caregiving.
• Social isolation due to the demands of caregiving.

Supporting Our Unsung Heroes

Because they are often ignored by the media and neglected by the whole system that they are helping to prop up, caregivers experience a high rate of burnout and financial troubles. This is a travesty and should be remedied however possible.

Of course, beyond legislative changes, we can still support caregivers as individuals, including:

• Provide financial assistance through the many financial assistance programs available to caregivers.
• Offer respite care so that caregivers have the time to take a break and enjoy their own lives.
• Provide emotional support as friends and family to caregivers by listening and offering encouragement.

By supporting caregivers, we can help to ensure that they are able to continue to provide the care that our loved ones need.

One Caregiver’s Journey by Eleanor Gaccetta is available on Amazon and in all major online bookstores. Visit her website www.onecaregiversjourney to find more caregiving information. Learn more about the changes, challenges, joys, and sorrows of caregiving!