Indu Subramanian, MD, a Parkinson’s neurologist, explains how loved ones of those with Parkinson’s can remain consistent in the care they provide.
Transcript
Having caregivers understand the basic safety issues around what are the things that lead to hospitalizations of patients, so that they know, you know, what to report to the physician.
I think sometimes caregivers feel so overwhelmed with everything that they just sort of give up and are like, “I feel like there’s no hope or help.” So understanding, you know, what are the critical things to communicate to the team that could be a safety issue for your loved one is important.
Understanding what your resources are. Depending on where you are and, you know, what health system you’re in. If there’s a social worker that’s available to be able to assist you with understanding if you have any benefits or resources for respite or for, you know, in-home help caregivers or trying to be creative about, you know, coming up with folks that can be hired to help you and who might be able to pay for that.
You know, it’s important, but a lot of what I do is sit down with the caregiver and help them to understand that it is 24/7 tireless job. And so certainly, if a patient is having needs overnight, that means that the caregiver is not getting any sleep at night — and so that they need perhaps to catch up with their sleep needs in the day, maybe calling over their kids or grandkids or a neighbor to watch their loved one so that they can get, you know, the necessary rest.
Certainly, if there’s mobility issues, you know, for a patient who might have fallen on the floor, needs help getting out of bed, I think, you know, one can actually harm oneself by trying to pull somebody up. Or the caregivers can come in with myriad of injuries of having tried to help their loved one off the floor by themselves or try to lift the person out of bed.
And I think engaging help — when you need it. Maybe finding a neighbor who is happy to come and help you with certain things, or hiring somebody so that you don’t injure yourself and you’re getting, you know, your own needs taken care of and you’re not working 24/7 without a break.
I think all of these things are really important. I think understanding proactively what the issues can be before they happen so that it’s not a very reactive situation, but that you’re you’re feeling empowered, you’re feeling like you have people to call in case of this issue or that issue.
