Classes offer a little care for caregivers

Caring for a spouse or family member through an illness at home can leave the caregiver feeling isolated and overwhelmed.

“It’s much more complicated than people initially think,” said Pam Graham, a counselor for the Family Support Center of South Snohomish County. Caregiving often stresses marriages and sometimes leaves the caregiver feeling exhausted, she said.

Workshop schedule

Snohomish County Long Term Care and Aging offers a series of workshops throughout the county this week called Understanding the Experience of Caregiving. Registration is not required. For information, call 425-388-7200 or go to www.snocare.org.

10 a.m.-noon, Trinity Lutheran Church, 6215 196th St. SW, Lynnwood:

Care Partnerships Across the Lifespan

Journey Through Memory Loss: Dealing with Early Stage Dementia

1-3 p.m., Monroe Public Library, 1070 Village Way:

Nutrition for Healthy Aging

My Loved One Is Driving Me Crazy

10 a.m.-noon, Stillaguamish Senior Center, 18308 Smokey Point Blvd., Arlington:

Challenges in the Middle to Late Stages of Dementia: Communication, Troubling Behavior and Unmet Needs

Advance Medical Directives: Making Your Wishes Known

1-3 p.m., Everett Public Library auditorium,2702 Hoyt Ave.:

Advocacy for Family Caregivers: A Primer

Juggling Commitments Caregiving, Work, Family and Still Have a Social Life

This week, eight free workshops will be presented to help people caring for others, whether it’s a parent, spouse, child or other family member.

The seminars will be offered on Tuesday and Wednesday in Arlington, Everett, Lynnwood and Monroe. The sites are scattered throughout the county to make it easier for people to attend.

The workshops are the first in a yearlong series for caregivers sponsored by Snohomish County Long Term Care and Aging.

The series was developed because of the high demand for information on caring for loved ones, said John Peterson, program manager for the county agency.

Through its family caregiver program, the agency assists about 700 unpaid family caregivers a year. It has distributed more than 8,000 information kits in the last three years.

About 60 percent of people who ask for help from the family caregiver program are caring for a loved one with cognitive problems such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or traumatic brain injury, Peterson said.

“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for people to get information and help,” he said.

The aim is to increase people’s confidence and decrease their stress. Using these tools, caregivers can continue to provide care for their loved ones in their home as long as possible, rather than send them to nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.

Topics during this week’s series include dealing with early and advanced dementia, juggling caregiving with work and family commitments, and nutrition for healthy aging.

Kamilia Dunsky, a geriatric mental health specialist for Senior Services of Snohomish County, will lead a session Tuesday in Monroe titled “My Loved One Is Driving Me Crazy.”

The physical and emotional strains of caring for a loved one brings out every human emotion, from joy to rage, she said.

“Knowing that’s normal can be a huge relief for folks,” she said.

Caregivers need to identify what helps them recharge, Dunsky said.

Free support groups, training and counseling are available for family caregivers. “There is a support system ready to help,” Graham said.

Yet it’s not uncommon for caregivers not to ask for it, she said, because caregivers are used to serving others.

“Nobody wants to neglect anybody,” she said, “but we all have limited capabilities.”

The toll can be high. “Some reports say 50 percent of caregivers die before the person they’re caring for,” Graham said.

They neglect taking their medications or going to the doctor, and sometimes become so isolated they cut themselves off from resources that could help.

“A lot of it is preventable,” she said. “They’ve lost sight of their own physical and emotional needs.”

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