Neighbor News
Expanding Your Village to Help a Family Caregiver
Ask The Experts series from the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce
The final quarter of the year is chock full of holidays, religious and otherwise, that bring many of us together with and as family. Square in the middle of those final three months, November is National Family Caregivers Month and an opportunity to recognize and help family caregivers. If you are a caregiver for a loved one, or know someone who is, it’s a perfect time for an annual evaluation of how things are going.
The first step is to make sure to take care of the caregiver. We like to use the analogy of the airline safety demonstration we’ve all seen dozens of times. What does the flight attendant instruct you to do when the oxygen mask comes down? Put on your own oxygen mask before turning to help others! The worst thing for a frail or dependent loved one is to have their caregiver compromised and unable to perform at their full capacity.
Explore local resources to lighten or supplement the work. Locally you can turn to the Social Service Department for the Town of Ridgefield for access to an array of support services, or Rides for Ridgefield for transportation, or Founders Hall for socialization. If it would be helpful to have someone local managing medical appointments and the clinical aspect of care perhaps a Care Manager such as Tewes Cares on Main St would be a helpful addition to the team.
At the very least educate yourself. The love that is at the core of every caregiver’s being is a wonderful and powerful force but caregiving is complicated and driving blind can lead to a crash. Head to the Ridgefield Public Library and pick up a primer. A few of our favorites are: A Guide for Caregiving by Tina Marrelli, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers: 101 Stories of Love, Sacrifice and Bonding, and The 36 Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer’s Disease, Other Dementias and Memory Loss by Nancy Mace and Perter Rabins. If the library doesn’t have any of those I’m sure they’ll have a great alternate to suggest.
Caregiving for a loved one can be too much for one person, it takes a village. Expand yours and have a wonderful holiday season.
Contact Paul Doyle, Jr. Owner, Certified Senior Advisors® CT-NY. Oasis Senior Advisors CT-NY 475-619-4123 or email TheDoyles@OasisSeniorAdvisors.com
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