{"id":784,"date":"2014-08-05T13:16:04","date_gmt":"2014-08-05T17:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/fsao\/?page_id=784"},"modified":"2017-07-27T09:35:20","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T13:35:20","slug":"elder-care","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/fsao\/resources\/elder-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Elderly or Disabled Caregiving"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking care of family and loved ones can be a joy or a burden.\u00a0\u00a0 Caring for a child who grows and moves towards independence is hard work, but doesn\u2019t last forever.\u00a0 Caring for an older person as he or she ages and declines in physical and mental functioning may be exhausting, sad or frustrating, and the process can be prolonged.<\/p>\n

For those of us who are working, caring for older parents and perhaps younger children, life can become stressful.\u00a0 Almost 44 million Americans \u2013 1 in 5 adults- are caregivers for a relative or friend over the age of 50.\u00a0 Many of us are in the prime of our professional work life and juggling the needs of three generations.\u00a0 Being sandwiched with the needs of others can take a toll on our effectiveness at work, our engagement with our families and our health.<\/p>\n

Dave Shiflett wrote in the Wall Street Journal<\/i> of June 27, 2014 about caring for his father, who suffered from dementia and died at age 91.\u00a0 He notes that 5 million Americans have some form of dementia, which robs people of their memory, personality and dignity.\u00a0\u00a0 But he notes that the elderly \u201chave a few things to teach their baby boomer offspring about toughness, perseverance, quality of life and, especially love . . . We are often at our best when life is at its worst\u201d.\u00a0 He and his wife took in his parents and cared for them until his father died.\u00a0 He describes his father\u2019s decline vividly: \u201cstripped to the bone by a pitiless disease\u201d.\u00a0 But he notes that they drew closer as a family in \u201ca sad but strangely beautiful part of our song of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work and caregiving<\/b><\/p>\n

More than 26 million working people are also caregivers for their older loved ones (The National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 2209).\u00a0 Many of these people are also caring for younger loved ones, children or grandchildren.\u00a0\u00a0 Many of us worry that our work with be affected by caregiving needs, that we might have to miss work for medical appointments, grocery shopping and errands.\u00a0 We also might be preoccupied with thinking about how to manage everything and fear that we will become distracted.<\/p>\n

Caregiving responsibilities<\/b> for someone at home may include:<\/p>\n