Caregiving Series: Part 6 with BJ Miller
Part of our ongoing series on caregiving, BJ Miller, Mettle Health founder, palliative care and hospice physician and author, leads a conversation on caregiving and what it entails to be a caregiver and answers questions from attendees.
Show Notes:
0:00 Introduction
3:07 Timing of caregiving as relates to the trajectory of illness and prognosis
5:03 Understanding Activities of Daily Living: bodily issues of caregiving
5:50 ADLs and qualifying for insurance and services
6:20 Understanding aspects of incontinence
7:22 The relationship of caregiving, going beyond transaction
8:22 Changing to role of caregiver that can strain relationships
10:06 It can be hard to know when you need more help
11:12 The importance of bearing witness to someone as they move through changes in life
12:44 Considerations for caregivers who are also working
13:59 Naming the difficulty and importance of self care for caregivers
17:15 Advice for caregiver hoping to improve quality of life for someone who is diminishing mentally?
22:17 Suggestions for what to ask or look for when hiring outside caregivers?
24:27 Self care exercises or suggestions for caregivers? Importance of exercise, nature, and some kind of contemplative practice
29:02 Cultivating empathy around a patient needing to ask for help. Being on the receiving end of care is also really tricky
35:23 Having series of conversations between caregiver and patient, being in the moment and sharing
43:06 Tears and hard emotions are not the enemy
45:06 How are end of life doula’s going to play out in caregiving in the future?
50:04 Finding death doulas in your area
51:55 When fighting and difficult emotions become part of a relationship between caregiver and patient
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