Welcome to the Dementia Caregivers Podcast Series. In this podcast, Joseph Herrera with
the California Southland Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association will cover ways that you, as a
caregiver, can take care of yourself and get the support and resources you need. First,
what are some of the issues that may arise for caregivers? A lot of the time what happens
with caregivers is that they completely adopt the role of care giving and they forget their
own identity so they become secondary to the needs of the care receiver. A lot of people,
they feel that their responsibility is to provide the care and a lot of the time, again,
they forget about themselves and their needs so they become isolated socially. That leads
to depression, leads to frustration, leads to higher levels of stress. Why is it so important
to focus on your own health as a caregiver? The level of frustration, the level of stress,
the level of depression can lead to chronic illnesses. So the person has to be very careful
and be very conscious about their own physical health, their mental health and make sure
that they take care of themselves. What are respite centers and how can caregivers use
them? The centers provide transportation, they provide services depending on the level
of need of the person and they have activities that stimulate the brain according to the
level of the disease. What is the benefit of participating in a caregiver support group?
The Alzheimer's Association offers a variety, or a number of support groups throughout the
LA County. We also have a telephone support group where they have to - they can call from
the convenience of their own home. It allows the caregiver to sort of take an emotional
journey and appreciate how the disease is affecting, a lot of the times their personal
health and how they are putting their needs - the needs of the care receiver ahead of
themselves - or their own needs. It also allows them to meet folks or people who are in the
same situation and they can support each other, exchange phone numbers - e-mail addresses
and they have somebody to reach out to. If the person is unable to attend the caregiver
support group there are opportunities on the website to attend maybe a chat room, so whenever
they have the opportunity and they can post their questions and they have multiple people
answering their questions for them. What other types of services does the Alzheimer's Association
provide to caregivers? The Alzheimer's Association offers a variety of services to caregivers.
For example, we have a Care Consultant Program where we assist through the caregiver to put
together or develop a care plan to sort of anticipate some of the changes, some of the
stages, some of the behaviors that are going to be coming up and take care of legal issues,
financial issues. We also offer support groups, educational programs specific for caregivers
and other services. We have an 800 number that caregivers can call 24 hours a day, 365
days a year and they will be assisted by a live person. I would also recommend to caregivers
to make a conscientious effort to realize that they come first. If you are not well
enough as a caregiver, how can you take care of two people? We hope this podcast will help
you to better understand the support available to you as a caregiver. If you have an idea
for a podcast topic, please e-mail it to us, at: nursinghomes@hsag.com. Thank you and stay
tuned for upcoming podcasts in our Dementia Caregivers Podcast Series.