Working Caregiver- Caregiver Answers
Caregiver Answers to Advocacy
Skills Needed for Advocating for your Loved One:
-Educate yourself regarding your loved one's illness and/or disability.
-Communicate efficiently and succinctly with healthcare professionals.
-Recognize you are a healthcare consumer deserving quality healthcare.
-Embrace your importance as a member of the healthcare team.
-Always provide input and ask as many questions as needed.
-Pick your battles; don't sweat the small stuff. Identify inconsequential matters and focus your attention elsewhere
-Be an advocate--speak up. The squeaky wheel usually gets the grease.
With a major role change such as the one associated with becoming a family caregiver, emotions can and will run the gamut. There are in fact five stages of grief that are widely accepted in the scientific community to occur as denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Living and coping through each of these stages composes the learning framework for us to be able to adjust to witnessing someone we love fall victim to a debilitating illness.
At the end of each day, post your questions, and also, what works for you.
Network with family support groups. Those real bad or rough days-you need to vent and get it out. Or call or email another caregiver. Advocacy is being there through thick and thin of your senior's aging life. WorkingCaregiver.com pushes you, the family caregiver, to advocate effectively for your loved one and yourself, putting you on the road toward a less turbulent lifestyle. Adopting a proactive, resourceful, and even creative approach will empower you to acquire help and information you may need. | 
