Caregiver

It can be difficult to make someone confront their stress and anxiety. I recommend that you share your concern with them, but be sure not to push too hard. You might say, “I’m worried about you. You seem very stressed out, is there anything I can do to help?” If they aren’t open to admitting it or discussing it, you might try to help reduce their stressors. Make sure to give them time to relax, try not to place too many demands on them, and make them feel comfortable confiding in you. You might also invite them to do stress reducing activities with you—like going for walks. If they sense that you are pushing it though, they will feel less inclined to speak to you about it. If there is a friend or family member that this person may feel more comfortable talking to you might try to connect them with that person. Keep in mind that when we don’t acknowledge something about ourselves it is because we are not ready. You can’t make someone ready to acknowledge a problem or to deal with it. In the meantime, if the situation is causing you stress, you might focus on managing your own stress about it.

It's important for the caregiver to understand that you are helping your loved one, but not at the expense of your own health.

Often caregivers do not fully understand their role. It's not up to a caregiver to get the patient well, but to assist the patient in obtaining what They believe will get them well.

Caregiver can help in many ways, but they are not the boss, the mother, or the food police of the patient:)

I do an exercise with the patient and caregiver to help both communicate and meet their needs. It's often not easy:)

It is really up to the patient. If a patient wants me to work with their family I am happy to.

If a caregiver reached out to me I would still have to get permission from the patient. This is all based on the privacy laws aka "hippa".

The services offered by the navigavor would be on a case by case basis depending on the need. The navigator could meet with the patient and/or the caregiver to assess the needs. The next step would to develop a plan.