Gary Barg, Editor-in-Chief
The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck is one of my favorite books simply because of the very first line in the book. The line consists of three words and once I read those three little words, I got my money’s worth without going any further. Those three words? Life is difficult. Oh yes, that’s it totally. Except I would go further and say a caregiver’s life is especially difficult. I cannot imagine a single caregiver who does not wish things were different for them and their loved ones. And why not. Let’s look at the statistics.
On the average, a family caregiver will be responsible for the directed expenditures of 40 thousand dollars a year caring for their loved one, and out of pocket - almost ten percent of their annual salary -- we will lose over six hundred thousand dollars in opportunities and promotions during the lifetime of our careers and over 63 per cent of caregivers, will consider depression to be their most commonly felt emotion.
Then why do we do it? Cause we can’t not do it. Because our loved ones need us. Because we never even asked ourselves if there was any other way. Because it’s who we are.
So now what? How do we go from being lover and spouse or dedicated daughter to being a dietitian, therapist, insurance specialist, immediate medical expert, chauffer, psychologist and pharmacist? AND keep our relationship with our loved ones, families, friends and neighbors. Not to mention our jobs, which a third of us end up losing.
I firmly believe the way that that we achieve all of our goals as caregivers is by actually taking on a new job role. That is one I call being a Fearless Caregiver. A Fearless Caregiver is a caregiver who understands that they have a job to do as a full member of their loved ones care team. You are no less important than the case manager, therapist or even doctor. You all have jobs to do, and yours is to learn all you can about your loved ones situation and act as his or her advocate.
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