Caregivers of older relatives (OR) often face challenges in managing the needs of the specified vulnerable group properly. While nursing homes provide professional assistance, placing OR in a nursing home is a difficult decision, hence the tendency for younger family members to become caregivers to their OR (Krishnan et al., 2017). The choice of catering to the needs of OR in the family setting leads to meeting their cultural needs more effectively. However, as my case has shown, the specified decision implies helping OR to recognize changes in the roles that they play in the family, which requires extensive support and education form a nursing expert.
Because of the lack of the skills of communicating with an OR with dementia, I had difficulties helping my great-grandfather to realize that his role in the family has been shifted from leading to receiving support. As a result, he often became upset when realizing that he required assistance in using kitchen utensils or walking across a room filled with objects over which he could trip. The issue of falls was especially difficult to manage since he faced the threat of a fall consistently yet refused any help with walking, insisting that he could handle it himself.
Although the specified story might seem insignificant, it shows how important family education and accommodation of older patients are. With the support and consultations of a nurse, I would have developed a strategy that could have helped the great-grandfather to reconcile with the change in his role in the family. Moreover, a nursing approach aimed at changes in a patient’s behavior and the education of caregivers would have led to the better accommodation of his needs, such as reducing the threat of a fall (Hoffman et al., 2017). Therefore, the case described above can be used as an example of how important the education of OR caregivers and their communication with a nurse are.
References
Hoffman, G. J., Hays, R. D., Wallace, S. P., Shapiro, M., Yakusheva, O., & Ettner, S. L. (2017). Receipt of caregiving and fall risk in US community-dwelling older adults. Medical Care, 55(4), 371-378. Web.
Krishnan, S., Pappadis, M. R., Weller, S. C., Stearnes, M., Kumar, A., Ottenbacher, K. J., & Reistetter, T. A. (2017). Needs of stroke survivors as perceived by their caregivers: A scoping review. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 96(7), 487-505. Web.