{"id":7856,"date":"2024-11-26T12:54:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T16:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/?p=7856"},"modified":"2024-11-27T18:58:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T22:58:23","slug":"occupational-therapy-supports-caregivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/occupational-therapy-supports-caregivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupational Therapy Supports Caregivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Each November in the U.S., the Caregiver Action Network (CAN) raises awareness for the millions of family caregivers providing critical support to older adults and persons with disabilities.\u00a0 CAN\u2019s theme for 2024, \u201cI Care\u2026\u201d, \u00a0as selected to help caregivers recognize and identify their role as a caregiver and encourage them to seek available supports.\u00a0 CAN, for example, provides free education and peer support, and most communities in the U.S. have a local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) that offer caregiver programs.<\/p>\n

I believe that OT can also provide immeasurable support to caregivers of our patients.\u00a0 As the health partner who is looking at the patient from a holistic viewpoint and giving critical support to the patient\u2019s ability to perform ADL and IDAL, OT\u2019s impact caregivers.<\/p>\n

There are several very deliberate ways OT can include caregivers and provide targeted support including building partnerships, explaining the \u201cwhy\u201d, providing tools to manage and motivate, and promoting self-care.<\/p>\n

Caregivers are Your Partners<\/strong>
\nAs occupational therapy professionals, we can intentionally build rapport with the person who is central to the patient\u2019s daily life to maximize patient independence and well-being.\u00a0 Include caregivers in assessments and appointments and approach the care as a team.\u00a0\u00a0 Written materials and handouts will help the caregiver reinforce your patient\u2019s goals between therapy sessions.<\/p>\n

Teach the \u201cWhy\u201d and \u201cHow\u201d of Modifications and Adaptations<\/strong>
\nInstruct both patients and caregivers on all modifications and adaptations that you recommend.\u00a0 Patients may not have the capacity to even make the simplest modifications, like removing throw rugs to reduce the risk of falls, so caregivers are the key to carrying out the work.\u00a0 The use of adaptive equipment to increase mobility and independence benefits the patient and the caregiver, many times in equal measure, so the caregiver needs to understand the purpose and proper use of equipment as much as the patient does.<\/p>\n

Provide Motivational Tools<\/strong>
\nThe caregiver is with the patient day in and day out and should be given the tools to motivate and encourage the patient to live the most independent and fulfilling life possible.\u00a0 When the caregiver understands and supports the short and long term goals of therapy, they can be the cheerleader at home to make sure the daily steps are taken to reach each goal. \u00a0They are also in a great position to monitor and chart daily progress, not only to report to the health care team, but to motivate the patient.<\/p>\n

Help Manage the Daily Details<\/strong>
\nManaging appointments, medications and lifestyle is central to the caregiver\u2019s role.\u00a0\u00a0 Acute conditions in particular can leave the family in need of tools to manage their new reality. Occupational therapists can provide strategies to manage medications and appointments, share the latest information on the condition or disease, and encourage positive lifestyle changes that the patient can implement with assistance from their caregiver.<\/p>\n

Promote Self Care<\/strong>
\nWithout the help and support of family caregivers, many patients would be in crisis. Yet, each of us have only so much to give and that includes even the most dedicated of caregivers.\u00a0 To help, make sure your patient\u2019s caregiver is well connected to the resources available like case management services, respite care, in home care, support groups or financial assistance.\u00a0 Ultimately, care for the caregiver will mean better care for your patient and better outcomes.<\/p>\n

Caregivers are a vital leader whether they are assisting with ADLs or IDALs, communicating and advocating with health care providers, providing some nursing care, or just staying current with health needs and management.\u00a0 So take time to mindfully build a strong relationship with the caregiver in your patient\u2019s life.\u00a0 OTs need caregivers too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each November in the U.S., the Caregiver Action Network (CAN) raises awareness for the millions of family caregivers providing critical support to older adults and persons with disabilities.\u00a0 CAN\u2019s theme for 2024, \u201cI Care\u2026\u201d, \u00a0as selected to help caregivers recognize and identify their role as a caregiver and encourage them…<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caregivers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Family-Caregiver.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7861,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7856\/revisions\/7861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}