How Do We Define Caregiving?

Caregiver:  1) a person who provides direct care (as for children, the disabled, or the chronically ill);   2) words normally used to refer to unpaid relatives or friends of a disabled individual who help that individual with his or her activities of daily living.

The National Care Planning Council  gives the following definitions:

Formal Caregivers
Formal caregivers are volunteers or paid care providers associated with a service system. Service systems might include for-profit or nonprofit nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, assisted living, home care agencies, community services, hospice, church or charity service groups, adult day care, senior centers, association services, state aging services, in-home daycares, and child care centers.

Informal Caregivers Informal caregivers are family, friends, neighbors or church members who provide unpaid care out of love, respect, obligation or friendship to a disabled person or child.  These people far outnumber formal caregivers and without them, this country would have a difficult time formally funding the caregiving needs of a growing number of disabled and young recipients.

The Ribbon Online:

·         A caregiver gives of oneself to assure that the person in need receives the necessary care to carry on his or her life safely and with dignity. 

·         A caregiver sees to it that the basic needs of food, clothing, cleanliness and shelter are met by the person with need.

·         A caregiver must also know how to meet that person's emotional needs without becoming co-dependent.

·         A caregiver never loses sight of his/her own needs and understands that in order to care for a loved one, you must also care for yourself.

How do you define Caregiver?

In the coming weeks we will continue building upon an agreed upon answer to this question and explore the importance of this subject today and in the future by looking at lessons learned in the past, where is the healthcare community at large heading and where one can find support, resource and guidance for Caregivers and the person who needs this help.

We are looking forward to your active participation. 

Thanks

Annual Physical

Yesterday was my time to face the music with my doctor of more than twenty years and yes, she had some rather stern words for me about my overall health and lack of exercise.

Cousin Ereline and I were chatting recently about good topics that we should consider of inclusion in our blog with our overall theme about helping others and we agreed that ‘health’ and ‘healthy habits’ seem pretty important. 

While surfing the Internet the other day, I found this article on 13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life  ( http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/13-healthy-habits-to-improve-your-life ) - simple, common sense habits that we should all practice.

13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life

• Healthy Habit # 1: Eat Breakfast Every Morning
• Healthy Habit # 2: Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet 
• Healthy Habit # 3: Get Enough Sleep 
• Healthy Habit # 4: Make Social Connections
• Healthy Habit # 5: Exercise for Better Health 
• Healthy Habit # 6: Practice Good Dental Hygiene 
• Healthy Habit # 7: Take Up a Hobby
• Healthy Habit # 8: Protect Your Skin
• Healthy Habit # 9: Snack the Healthy Way
• Healthy Habit # 10: Drink Water and Eat Dairy
• Healthy Habit # 11: Drink Tea
• Healthy Habit # 12: Take Daily Walks
• Healthy Habit # 13: Plan

 In future updates we will get into more details of these healthy habits and seek your comments. 

How many of these habits do you practice? 

Getting Started ...

Things happen for a reason and on occasion I find myself asking, “God, we have been friends for a very long time, taken some rather unique journey’s together and  just wondering where we might be headed next?  Any where you choose is fine with me, just looking for a little guidance.”

It seems that reconnecting with family and friends and bringing some of them back together may be part of his master plan. Over the past five years or so, this has been highlighted by meeting and building new loving relationships with extended family members, bringing siblings together and being able to lend assistance to both family and friends.

Recently one of my cousin’s suggested that we consider doing a blog.  Now, I’m up for a new adventure - especially an online activity that touches others and in some small way helps them.  After all, I’ve been a very outspoken proponent of the Internet, in particular as a means to connect and communicate with others - not as a replacement, just another means to do so.

We hope that you will join us on this journey, participate in some small way, provide your insights and opinions and help us grow. 

Internet Travels

In my online travels recently, a couple of Blogs have stood out from the rest.  Over the next few days, I'll post my comments and links to these interesting, informative and fun blog sites.  Please let me know what you think of them.

DelightfulMomStuff (http://delightfulmomstuff.blogspot.com/) is written by Jenica, a very bright, energetic wife, mother of two girls that keep her busy.  She cover a wide variety of topics from teaching young was the basics to product reviews, your involvement within the community, healthy tips, and other good things in life.  I highly recommend visiting DelightfulMomStuff - leave her a comment or two and visit on a regular bases.

Thank you

Keeping it Simple

Welcome to Keeping it Simple (KIS) by Terry Orr (TO) (KISBYTO) where my desire for this Blog is to build a virtual community,  where we can collectively help others help themselves in the fast paced, hectic world we live in today.