WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL CAREGIVER GUIDES?

What are the Practical Caregiver Guides and why do they exist? The answer is simple. Family caregivers are not normally trained in how to provide care. They slip through the cracks. They stumble their way through care. Burned out, exhausted, just trying to survive, family caregivers try to cover all the bases, but it's not easy.

Hospital workers are trained. Even home health aides have to be certified. But family caregivers? It's all relative.

The truth is that the more you know about your loved one's disease, the better the care you give. In cancer management, it can be critical. Want an example of some things you should know?

Eating can be exhausting for cancer patients, and many just give up because it's too much effort. It takes energy to chew food. If your loved one is too tired to eat, he or she will lose too much weight. You need to understand how to feed your loved one.

Scheduling activities that work with, not against, cancer treatments improves quality of life for your loved one. You need to know how chemotherapy affects your loved one in order to maximize the energy he or she has.

Still think you don't have a real job to do? The biggest problem for most cancer patients is managing the fear of the disease. What can you do to help your loved one? If you don't understand the toll cancer takes on relationships, you may find yourself feeling lost and alone.

A good family caregiver understands that cancer patients can be affected by the cancer treatments as much as the cancer. In order to help your loved one, you have to believe that what you do can have a positive outcome. But you won't feel that way until you accept that the quality of your caregiving will improve your loved one's chances of managing and navigating cancer.

You want your loved one to have the best medical treatment. Be part of that team. Learn about the disease and strategies to keep your loved one healthier. Take the first step. Have the courage to confront the disease, so your loved one can live better.

For help with your caregiving, visit www.practicalcaregiverguides.com