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	Eldercare Help For The Self-Employed
	Article 2: Being A Caregiver The term caregiver may bring to mind a white-clad nurse or low-paid bedpan changer or muscular therapist hoisting grandma into her wheelchair for a sit-down shower. But if you have elderly relatives, you have probably redefined the term caregiver. Unlike professional caregivers with appropriate training and salary, your skill set and pay grade probably aren’t suited to the task. Unlike lowly-paid bedpan changers or specially trained therapists, you probably prefer not to do that type of work, lowly paid or otherwise. But because you have loved ones who need you, and perhaps because no one else is willing, you may soon – if you haven’t already – become Florence Nightingale or Good Samaritan to a needy relative. You may be called to provide 24/7 care to an elderly father whose failing health requires he move into your home. Or you may need to negotiate with far-flung nursing homes and make periodic visits to an institutionalized mother, paralyzed from a stroke and isolated from loved ones. Care-giving runs the gamut. But once you accept your role, it’s important to understand the implications. “One of the keys for people who find themselves family caregivers is they need to recognize that they are family caregivers, not just a devoted daughter or niece,” says Deborah Halpern, communications director for the National Family Caregivers Association. If you view your care-giving responsibilities as a job, not merely an obligation, “it empowers you to act as you would in any job . . . Then you are going to ask for help and demand the resources you need.” For more than three years, the self-employed Halpern provided care from a distance for her elderly grandmother, who was unable to fix her own meals, bathe herself and perform other essential tasks. Halpern’s grandmother lived in her own home, but required a paid, live-in aide. “But that didn’t take away my responsibility to be there for her,” says Halpern. The attention and logistics provided by Halpern and Halpern’s mother were essential for the 93-year-old matriarch’s well-being. Sunrise Senior Living Inc., a national provider of senior living services and facilities, identifies three facets of quality care-giving: Be compassionate Link those you care for to the outside world Be hands-on to prevent feelings of isolation