Thursday, August 5, 2010

Caregiver Support Groups, can they really help the Caregiver?

by Gerry Fioriglio RN, BS Geriatric Care Manager



Thank you for visiting our blog and reading our posts.  The last post was an article written by Byron Pulsifer about how to take care of  the caregiver.  At Family Caregivers Network we hold monthly caregiver support groups for anyone who is a caregiver.  Whether you provide direct care or are indirectly involved in the care of someone you are a caregiver. Often caregivers are intimidated by support groups.  They are afraid to share their story.  Many caregivers believe they are managing their role and don't need to discuss their situation with other caregivers.  Yet when they attend a meeting caregivers find they identify with the stories of other caregivers.  At Family Caregivers we believe that by sharing your story you can help others as well as yourself.  You just need to let down your guard.  This is easier for women than for men.  Men don't easily share their emotions which can cause them to have "caregiver burnout" at a much higher rate than women.  In the past 10 years of facilitating caregiver support groups only a handful of men have attended our groups.  Yet those who have attended our support groups found the support and fellowship needed to be a stronger caregiver.  To learn more about caregiver support groups and how to take care of the caregiver tune in to PCTV "What's Happening" online Thursday, August 5th at 12:00 pm.  Go to website, http://www.deneliott.com/ and click on the video for "What's Happening"  Live call in questions will be taken during the show.   You can also view the show on Pottstown Comcast Cable Channel 28 or 22.  Join us, I look forward to your comments.   I can be reached at gfioriglio@family-caregivers.com anytime for questions about caregiving. 

1 comment:

  1. Much thanks for yet another first-rate post. I am always trying to find caregiver tricks to recommend to my own readers. Thank you for taking the time to write this tutorial . It's just what I was looking for. Truly awesome post.

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