Identifying Caregiver Distress in Bucks County Family Caregivers - Are You at Risk?

Nearly one third of the U.S. adult population provides care to someone who is ill, disabled or aged, often neglecting their own needs to care for them. It’s no surprise then that for Pennsylvania’s estimated 1.3 million* nonprofessional, family caregivers, chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, occur at nearly twice the rate (45 percent vs. 24 percent) of non-family caregivers.

As a leading provider of in-home non-medical care services for seniors, Home Instead Senior Care® of Bucks County is working to change that by providing valuable resources to help family caregivers determine their risk for caregiver distress—a condition that may arise from the pressures of caring for a senior loved one—and to minimize key health effects that are associated with caregiver distress, which includes depression, heart disease, obesity and more.

Research shows that certain characteristics make family caregivers more vulnerable to caregiver distress including:

• Gender: Female caregivers report more psychological distress than male caregivers, although males have more physiological responses such as higher blood sugar and insulin levels, poor cholesterol and immune function, and obesity.
• Reluctance to seek outside help: By refusing to acknowledge that additional help is required, caregivers become vulnerable to exhaustion.
• Chronic illness: Increase in negative health effects may result in caregivers who have a preexisting condition such as coronary disease, hypertension or cancer.

Many Bucks County spouses and adult children are unaware of their potential risk of caregiver distress because they don’t see themselves as caregivers. In the act of caring for another, these family caregivers often neglect their own health and wellness, and feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for another.

As a response to this growing national issue, Home Instead Senior Care® launched two new tools: The Are You a Caregiver Quiz, which is designed to help a family caregiver self-identify and recognize the role of caregiver, and the Family Caregiver Distress Assessment, which allows caregivers to evaluate their risk for Caregiver Distress-related health conditions. These resources are part of the Family Caregiver Stress Relief ^SM public awareness campaign and are at www.FamilyCaregiverStressRelief.com.

Through this campaign, Home Instead is aiming to help family caregivers take care of themselves so they stay healthy and continue being there for their loved one in need, including providing tools to minimize and reduce stress. Attending to the well-being of others shouldn’t mean neglecting your own health needs. To find out more information about the services of the Home Instead Senior Care® office in Bucks County, contact Larry Blacker at (215) 943-7700 or visit http://www.homeinstead.com/342/pages/homeinsteadseniorcare.aspx.

*Estimated number of informal caregivers in Pennsylvania according to the Family Caregiver Alliance.