Caregiving

Caregiving Skills For Dementia (Lippincott’s Nursing Center)

San Jose Care Resource Guide:  This is a very rich article from the Lipingcott’s Nursing Center on dementia in its various forms. Essentially a class  for nurses , but family caregivers will benefit immensely from the information. Click Here for link

San Jose Care Resource Guide: Here are some of the  topics

• COMMON TYPES OF DEMENTIA
•  NURSING CARE MODELS (Techniques for interaction with a person afflicted with Dementia)
• INTERVENTIONS ( What can be done to improve the situation)
  • Illustrative examples of cases and what was done
  • Responses to specific dementia issues such as
    •  agitation
    • withdrwal
    • apathy

One of the best article we have seen in a long time!

Dementia Caregiving: Poor Skills=Frustration + Depression!

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Caregiving: Lifting Patients from Beds (SafetyInstruction.com)

DisaHealth:    Caregiving is not just a labor of Love, it is also a skill. Here is a YouTube video from SafetyInstruction giving a class about bed transfer safety

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Tetraplegia and paraplegia: “A guide for physiotherapists” Must Read Book By Ida Bromley

San Jose Care Resource Guide: This book looks full of important information on maintaining or improving the health of tetra or para people. Whether you give care to one or you are a paraplegic yourself.

Just look at the Table of content:

“….1. Spinal Cord Injury 2. Physiological Effects and Their Initial Management 3. Patient-Centred Practice 4. The Acute Lesion 5. Respiratory Therapy 6. Pressure – Effects and Prevention 7. Initial Physical Re-Education 8. Personal Independence 9. The Bio-Mechanical Principles Used in Transferring 10. Basic Functional Movements 11. Wheelchairs and Wheelchair Management 12. Transfers 13. Gait Training 14. Ultra-High Lesions 15. The Incomplete Spinal Lesion 16. Spinal Cord Injury in Children 17. Ageing with Spinal Cord Injury 18. Complications 19. Sport in Rehabilitation Appendix 1. Standard Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury Appendix 2. Functional Independence Measure (FIM) Appendix 3. Spinal Cord Independence Measure Appendix 4. Major Segmental Innervation of the Muscles of the Upper Limb Appendix 5. Major segmental innervation of the muscles of the lower limb. Appendix 6. Functional Independence Appendix 7. Segmental Innervation of the Skin Appendix 8. Useful Addresses and Equipment Suppliers….” (from Ebay)

Does not replace the physical therapist, but sure has pointers!

Pumping it (WWRC)

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About Caregiving and divorced parents (Huffington)

SJCRG: Another painful side effect of divorce. Click here for the link to the article in the Huffington Post

SJCRG: I could go on an old curmudgeon’s  rant about the causes of divorce, but I would probably loose you guys in the process.  So I will be quiet, but you get my drift…

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What Do Hospice Social Workers Do? (seniorhomecareinformation)

SJCRG:  For many of us Hospice is the H word: But at the Care Resource Guide we recognize that we need to know the cards before we are dealing…So here is an interesting post about the role of social workers in that difficult place: the Hospice.

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American Heart Association (AHA) has a good caregiver website

SJCRG: Here is the link AHA-Caregivers.    Excellent site for caregivers of all stripes. I particularly like the tone, “Caregiver, we are here for you” . Take a look at the “Reach Out”  communication tips, they will save you grief!

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Caregivers of Veterans Face Greater Stress, More Years of Care Than the National Average (marketwatch)

San Jose Care Resource Guide: Caregivers come from many backgrounds and caregivers of veterans care for doubly stressed individuals: the stress of having been through war, and the stress of coming out wounded.  This article in MarketWatch is noteworthy, as is describes their struggle and gives some links to support organizations

Here is a photo from ArmyTimes  that tells it all:

Wounded Veteran and Caregiver (ArmyTimes)

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Spouse Caregiving: a Facebook Fibromyalgia Page

SJCRG:This group was started by Adrienne Dellwo, who runs a newsletter on fibromyalgia from the About.com site. I have found that Adriennes’s newsletter carries worthwhile information, so  I expect the FB group to be well led and valuable.

Issues facing couples with one spouse with a major chronic disease are unique.  They have to deal with all sorts of  frustrations, burried resentments, guilt: a therapist’s job security!

SJCRG: By the way, such group should carry discussions valid for couples facing other chronic diseases

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Caring for the Caregiver – Coping With Anger (YouTube, Elaine Sanchez)

SJCRG: Caregiving is difficult for the care recipient and the caregiver. Particularly for the family caregiver. Click here    for a link to one of our posts about anger issues in caregiving

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Effect of Body Position on Cerebral Oxygenation in Patients With Acute Neurological Conditions (Lippingcott)

SJCRG: One can find in nursing journal information not readily avalaible in medical research papers. A good example here is this article about the effect of body position on brain oxygenation

Quoting the Lippingcott Nursing Center  :
“…Current positioning practices in neurocritical care units are largely based on studies that suggest head of bed (HOB) elevation may reduce ICP. However, there is no consensus on the degree of elevation for best practice. Although 30[degrees] of head elevation is believed to be associated with improvements in ICP (intercranial Pressure and  and CPP (cerebral perfusion Pressure)….study to examine the effects of patient positioning, including a combination of head elevation and side lying on PbtO2 ICP, CPP, and MAP after severe brain injury…..Our data suggest that there is no single optimal body position and that the lateral position should be used with caution….”

The study still shows that body position matters..so the nurses should monitor the impact of patients position. 

Here is a YouTube video showing a hightech hospital bed (Striker InTouch) that could help in find optimum positionning of patients [not endorsed] :

SJCRG: This study was for patients with major accute problems. But it begs the following question: what about long term the effect of body position on chronically ill such as quadraplegics or even  paraplegics in their chairs or beds? Any?

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