Lecture 34- Stress of Care-Takers — Transcript

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1. 0:16Hello friends, this is the fourth
2. 0:19lecture of module 7 of the stress
3. 0:22management course and I Shubraasa your
4. 0:26course instructor welcome you back in
5. 0:29this course.
6. 0:31This lecture talks about the problems of
7. 0:34caretakers.
8. 0:37Friends, the discussion about stress
9. 0:39related with chronic health problems
10. 0:42cannot be completed unless we
11. 0:45incorporate the problems and stress of
12. 0:48the caregivers which constantly work to
13. 0:52improve the health condition of the
14. 0:55patient.
15. 0:57Here is the content we are going to
16. 1:00cover in this lecture. We will talk
17. 1:03about the stress of the caretakers,
18. 1:06its source, its impact on the
19. 1:10caregivers's health and the possible
20. 1:13coping strategies for caregivers.
21. 1:17Let us begin with today's discussion.
22. 1:21The first thing which we should talk
23. 1:24about is the caregiver is also a human
24. 1:28being.
25. 1:30Suddenly he gets an additional
26. 1:33responsibility of taking care of other
27. 1:37people. Mostly in case of chronic
28. 1:40illness the level of impairment of the
29. 1:44patient is high. Therefore the patient
30. 1:49may be dependent on the caregiver even
31. 1:52for their daily routine tasks.
32. 1:56In such conditions, the responsibilities
33. 2:00of the caregivers increases many fold
34. 2:05leading them to a more stressful
35. 2:08situation. They have to carry out their
36. 2:12own responsibility. They have to take
37. 2:14care of their own daily routine tasks
38. 2:18including their professional life,
39. 2:21including their personal life. and then
40. 2:24they have an additional responsibility
41. 2:26of another person. So this is going
42. 2:30going to cause them emotional strain,
43. 2:33physical demand, financial strain and
44. 2:37social isolation.
45. 2:39All these factors
46. 2:41can serve as a source of a stress for
47. 2:44them. So let us go through them one by
48. 2:48one.
49. 2:49First of all, if I talk about the
50. 2:51emotional strain, it is really painful
51. 2:55to see somebody who is very near to you
52. 2:59with whom you are deeply connected with
53. 3:02in such a bad shape.
54. 3:05You have always seen a person completely
55. 3:09functional, full of life, confident,
56. 3:13carrying out responsibilities so nicely
57. 3:16and suddenly one day the person becomes
58. 3:20completely dependent on you. Or the
59. 3:24problem which was looking very small is
60. 3:27now increasing day by day causing more
61. 3:30and more impairment in the life of the
62. 3:33patient.
63. 3:35This is not easy to deal with
64. 3:38psychologically. It is very difficult to
65. 3:41comprehend to accept and many people
66. 3:45even get stuck at this stage only. They
67. 3:48do not understand how this happened and
68. 3:52what will happen in the future. So the
69. 3:55worries related with the future is
70. 3:58another dimension which causes a lot of
71. 4:01emotional strain for the caregivers.
72. 4:06They may feel overwhelmed with anxiety.
73. 4:09They may feel low and also a kind of
74. 4:13burnout from the pressures from all
75. 4:16side.
76. 4:18Similarly, another factor is the
77. 4:21increased workload on them which
78. 4:24requires a lot of physical work. As I
79. 4:28said earlier also along with their
80. 4:31responsibilities, along with their task
81. 4:34now they have to bear the
82. 4:36responsibilities of someone else also.
83. 4:40So this increases their workload many
84. 4:43folds. It requires them to work for
85. 4:46longer hours, maybe compromising their
86. 4:49sleep, their relaxation time, their
87. 4:53leisure activities and even in severe
88. 4:56cases their food requirements.
89. 5:00Caregivers sometime do not get a proper
90. 5:04break to eat a healthy meal or they may
91. 5:09not be in a correct mood state where
92. 5:12they find eating uh a pleasure for them.
93. 5:16So they simply eat whatever they get so
94. 5:18that they can keep working. So taken
95. 5:21together all these complications really
96. 5:24exhaust the caregiver also. The level of
97. 5:27physical exhaustion is a lot. Then comes
98. 5:30the financial strain. If the patient is
99. 5:35not financially independent, the
100. 5:38financial burden for the treatment of
101. 5:40the patient comes to the caregiver only.
102. 5:44And this additional financial obligation
103. 5:48associated with the payment of medical
104. 5:51bills or procuring special diet for the
105. 5:56patient or simply a loss of earning due
106. 6:00to frequent absence from the workplace
107. 6:04builds up a lot of financial strain on
108. 6:07the caregiver.
109. 6:09And the fourth important cause of
110. 6:13problem for the caregiver is the kind of
111. 6:15social isolation they feel.
112. 6:20Because caregivers are most of the time
113. 6:23engaged with the patient. They do not
114. 6:26find enough time to socialize, to
115. 6:29participate in social activities, to
116. 6:32connect with their peer groups or to
117. 6:36participate in activities which are
118. 6:39relaxing in general.
119. 6:41This may cause them a kind of social
120. 6:45withdrawal and later on social isolation
121. 6:49where they are largely cut off their own
122. 6:53friend circle from their own family
123. 6:57network.
124. 6:59This is another cause of stress for the
125. 7:02caregivers. They are continuously
126. 7:05uh busy with the same kind of feelings,
127. 7:08the same kind of task. They are in a
128. 7:11continuously the same kind of mood state
129. 7:15which limits the opportunities of
130. 7:20catharsis for them and making their
131. 7:24caregiving role difficult.
132. 7:28Obviously when a person suffers from so
133. 7:32many complications like these
134. 7:36having outcomes for themselves is very
135. 7:41common.
136. 7:43These outcomes can be related to their
137. 7:46physical health, their mental health or
138. 7:51their financial or social burden.
139. 7:54First of all, if I talk about their
140. 7:58physical health,
141. 8:00they are also likely to develop
142. 8:03psychosomatic
143. 8:05stress illnesses because all these
144. 8:08illnesses happen due to high level of
145. 8:11stress which continues for a long period
146. 8:14of time
147. 8:16leading to repeated stimulation of HPA
148. 8:20and SAM axis
149. 8:22suppressing the immune immune system in
150. 8:25the caregiver.
151. 8:28Increased release of cortisol and
152. 8:31adrenaline in the bloodstream of the
153. 8:34caregiver
154. 8:35and causing significant cognitive
155. 8:39impairments in them thereby bringing
156. 8:44significant negative health outcomes for
157. 8:48them also.
158. 8:50Moreover, the constant state of worry
159. 8:54about the future of the disease, about
160. 8:57the future of the patient or about the
161. 9:00future of the other family members who
162. 9:04were somehow dependent upon the patient
163. 9:08including the caregiver is a big big
164. 9:11factor leading to anxiety,
165. 9:15depression
166. 9:17and other kind of mental health
167. 9:21complications
168. 9:23including burnouts and even PTSD if some
169. 9:28trauma happens later on.
170. 9:32Caregivers's burden also include
171. 9:36uh diminishing the standard of the care
172. 9:41provided
173. 9:43leading to poor quality of life
174. 9:47where one has very limited or no scope
175. 9:50for recreational activities for social
176. 9:54connections for leisure time activities
177. 9:57for proper rest and taking 7 to 8 our
178. 10:02sleep.
179. 10:04All these things again
180. 10:08worsen the situation for the caregivers.
181. 10:12Now what are the remedies? What can be
182. 10:15done if we try to alleviate this stress
183. 10:19at least up to some level? There are
184. 10:23certain things that can be tried. The
185. 10:25first one is the use of support
186. 10:28networks.
187. 10:30If I'm not able to
188. 10:35participate
189. 10:37physically in the social gatherings, I
190. 10:42can connect with my friends, with other
191. 10:45loved ones over phones or in virtual
192. 10:49meetings. At least I can talk to them
193. 10:52while taking care of the patient also.
194. 10:56This will help me in two ways. One, it
195. 11:01will provide me an opportunity for
196. 11:04releasing my pentup emotions, my
197. 11:07worries, my anxieties. I can talk to my
198. 11:10friends. I can talk to other loved ones
199. 11:14about what is going on, about how I feel
200. 11:18uh for the patient. uh how much worried
201. 11:21I am regarding the future course of the
202. 11:24disease and how much I'm worried about
203. 11:28how the life will be if something
204. 11:30unexpected happens.
205. 11:33Moreover, the second thing which is
206. 11:36important here that if I am in regular
207. 11:40touch with my friend circle with the
208. 11:44extended family members, I can get
209. 11:47support from them in the time of need.
210. 11:52So if I have something important to do
211. 11:54and I want somebody to stand by my side
212. 11:58or even if I feel emotionally exhausted
213. 12:01and need somebody to console me or even
214. 12:04I'm not able to cook food for myself so
215. 12:07somebody sending me a breakfast or a
216. 12:10lunch all these help can be taken if I
217. 12:15am in contact touch with my friend
218. 12:18circle with my kit and kins if I'm
219. 12:22completely cut off from everyone. Other
220. 12:25people may not be knowing what
221. 12:27conditions I'm in or what are my
222. 12:31requirements, what I need at what
223. 12:33particular time. So, it would be
224. 12:35difficult for them to help me out
225. 12:37whenever I need it. So, maintaining
226. 12:40social support network is important. If
227. 12:44not physically, at least virtually, we
228. 12:47can be connected with others.
229. 12:50Respite care is another provision.
230. 12:53Respite care refers to an idea where we
231. 12:56can hire a person for short period of
232. 12:59time which could be of a few hours of a
233. 13:02few days or week. If I have to take
234. 13:06leave for something important in my
235. 13:10life. Suppose I have to finish some
236. 13:13important work related assignments for
237. 13:16which I need to go out station. I can
238. 13:19ask other person to take care of the
239. 13:22patient for that much time against
240. 13:25payment. So at many places seeking help
241. 13:30from friends and family members is not
242. 13:33possible because they also live at
243. 13:35distant places or they are also occupied
244. 13:39with their own uh things with their own
245. 13:43life. So one can turn towards the
246. 13:47professional help which is available
247. 13:50for short period of time as and when
248. 13:54required
249. 13:55then self-care activities must not be
250. 13:59compromised. If I totally stop thinking
251. 14:02about myself I am not eating properly. I
252. 14:06am not taking rest. I'm not engaging in
253. 14:09any kind of uh uh exercise or meditation
254. 14:13or any other activity which can uh boost
255. 14:16my well-being and quality of life. Soon
256. 14:19I will face a burnout. So it is better
257. 14:23to find small windows where other people
258. 14:27can take care of the patient and I can
259. 14:30engage in my own self-care activities.
260. 14:35And finally, professional support is
261. 14:38very much required. While taking care of
262. 14:41the patient, one must be in continuous
263. 14:44touch with professionals to seek their
264. 14:47guidance about the possible ways of
265. 14:51taking care of the patient.
266. 14:54One can also seek help from counselors
267. 14:57and therapists if one feels overwhelmed
268. 15:02with anxiety and depression and finds
269. 15:05himself or herself not in a position to
270. 15:09work anymore. This was all about what
271. 15:13happens with the caregivers and how the
272. 15:16things can be managed so that they also
273. 15:21get a window to engage in recreational
274. 15:25activities so that they can also take
275. 15:28little rest or their mental health is
276. 15:31not compromised.
277. 15:36You can see that we have talked about
278. 15:38emotional strain, physical demand,
279. 15:41financial strain and social isolation as
280. 15:44the possible sources of stress for
281. 15:47caregivers.
282. 15:49They have also talked about the impact
283. 15:51of such stresses on their physical and
284. 15:55mental health. And of course we talked
285. 15:58about certain corrective measures which
286. 16:01can ensure a better life for caregivers
287. 16:06as well. As always, here are the
288. 16:11references
289. 16:14and the books which are suggested for
290. 16:18further enhancement of your knowledge.
291. 16:22Thank you very much for your patient
292. 16:25listening. Thank you.