Identify Caregivers Problem
A caregiver assessment will allow the care manager to clearly identify the caregiver’s problems. This can be a duel fix. Often it is a way of solving the care receiver’s problems
Find Out the Ms Handy’s Caregiver’s Problems
Let’s take Mrs Handy .The care manager Ms. Helpmate is called by stressed-out family caregiver Ms. Handy, who is thinking of placing her Dad, who lives with her. Ms. Helpmate does a caregiver assessment and a geriatric depression assessment. Ms. Handy is depressed. Ms. Handy has a score of 17 indicating caregiver depression. That’s one of the 14 symptoms of caregiver overload
The care manager then suggests that Ms. Handy begin getting her Dad ready for bed at 10:00 PM.instead of midnight herself when her Dad goes to bed. Ms. Handy is exhausted= caregiver overload.
The daughter is reluctant because she is still locked in her old role of” I’m the kid and he’s the Dad”. She fearful to change her Dad’s routine, even though she is so tired, is actually 50, not a kid anymore. After months of this that she is at the breaking point.
Using the Caregiver Assessment to Coach Caregiver
After much coaching by the care manager, the daughter starts to stay up until 10:00, go through all the prompting to get her Dad changed then turns off the TV. The Dad is angry and resistant at first but gradually goes to bed at 10:00 PM.
The care manager coaches the daughter over the few weeks and the Dad slowly adjusts to this new routine, giving Ms. Handy encouragement to continue. Ms. Handy then is able to sleep all night pulling her off the edge of the cliff where her next step was nursing home placement, which she promised her Dad she would never do.
The caregiver assessment stops Mr. Wilson from staying up late and missing adult daycare and Ms. Handy from being so tired she can’t go to work one of her primary caregiver stresses.
Find out more about how to do a caregiver assessment in Handbook of Geriatric Care Management 4th edition in the Chapter, “Assessing and Supporting the Caregiver”.