When I began taking care of Mom 8 years ago, it was more along the lines of learning about cancer, protecting her quality of life, and getting her to all those appointments. We’ve had many times where we questioned whether or not this was it. From her initial diagnosis, to COVID, UTIs, pneumonia, recurrence of cancer, to CHF. I didn’t have time to “find” help or resources & relying on information from friends wasn’t effective as the situations didn’t seem to apply to us. Navigating some of the websites – especially government ones – was ridiculous!
Thankfully, a friend shared a flyer for an upcoming caregivers course with me. This. This was a HUGGGGE help & provided so many more resources than I could have taken the time to find. I highly recommend checking out Powerful Tools for Caregivers as they are world wide. They offer caregiver courses across the country.
It is my plan to update resources continually. This certain will not be a complete list as my focus is on my Mom’s and daughter’s diagnoses.
I have not personally worked with each of these organizations, so do your research.
Powerful Tools for Caregivers: With locations all across the US, this organization offers a 6 week course in caring for yourself while providing care for others. I have found this to be a great resource as caregiving can be so isolating & we all need a little support.
Caregiver Action Network: Located in Washington, DC. You can find them on several social media platforms, they offer a Caregiver Help desk (855) 227-3640, offer a peer support group, amongst many other resources.
Support Near Me: I stumbled upon this site looking for some additional resources. This site is not specific to any one area of need. I found a tutor site for my daughter & have reached out for more information; so we’ll see how that goes.
PBS: I recently discovered PBS has a library of caregiving episodes available. “Caregiving” was aired on the 23rd of June and provided some interesting information about the journey of trying to provide support and recognition for caregivers. I did not have to create an account to watch, I simply went to their website and clicked episodes I wanted to watch.