A Caregiver's Bill of Rights
Author: Karen LargentPublished on: Jul 1, 1999
Suite101.com's Caregiver's Event is a great time for me to talk about the rights you have as a caregiver. These are not formal, legal rights, but personal rights. As a caregiver, remember to think not only of your loved one but also about YOU. Taking care of yourself is one of the most important things you can do as a caregiver.
You have the right to take care of yourself. This is not being selfish. It gives you the ability to better care for your loved one.
You have the right to seek help from others even though your relatives may object. Recognize the limits of your own endurance and strength.
You have the right to maintain facets of your life that do not include the person you care for, just as you would if that person were healthy. Realize that you do everything that you reasonably can for that person, and you have the right to do some things just for yourself.
You have the right to get angry, be depressed, and to express those and other difficult feelings occasionally.
You have the right to reject attempts by your loved one (either consciously or unconsciously) to manipulate you through guilt and/or depression.
You have the right to receive consideration, affection, forgiveness, and acceptance for what you do for your loved one for as long as you offer those qualities in return.
You have the right to take pride in what you are accomplishing and to applaud the courage it sometimes takes to meet the needs of the one you care for.
You have the right to protect your individuality and the right to make a life for yourseld that will sustain you in the time when your loved one no longer needs your full-time help.
You have the right to expect and demand that as new strides are made in finding resources to aid physically and mentally impaired persons, that similar strides will be made towards the aid and support of Caregivers.
*Paraphrased from the Today's Caregiver Magazine version
Too often, those who give care do not get the care they need as well. Caregiving is at the least a full time job in and of itself. Those who give care, whether to someone with Alzheimer's or Autism or chronic illness, also need care themselves.
Support groups are a good way to get out all the frustrations and tensions that can mount up. It joins together a group of people in the same situation and allows for free flowing ideas and support.
As a caregiver, you have rights and you should recognize and expect those rights for yourself!
This link will take you to a nice printable copy of the Caregiver's Bill of Rights for you to print out and keep on your refrigerator! http://www.caregiver.com/rights.html
Another version of the Caregiver's Bill of Rights can be found at this link: http://www.alzwisc.org/rights.html
The Caregiver Network is a wonderful web site to get information, support and access to good information.
National Caregiver's Week is held yearly the week of November 22 - 28
The following link is a web page with a good list of links for caregivers.
http://www.inspace.net/~pakeller/care.htm
To all who give care, I applaud you for taking on a serious and difficut and sometimes amusing task! Remember to take care of YOU!