There Are Four Kinds of People in Caregiving

Rosalynn Carter said, “There are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been a caregiver, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.” Below are caregiving statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP (2015) and The State of Caregiving (2018):

• There are 40.4 million unpaid caregivers of adults ages 65 and older in the United States. Roughly half of these caregivers have been providing help for two years or less with more than a third providing care for five or more years.
• Adults ages 45 to 64 are the most likely to be caregivers. About a quarter of them (23%) are providing care for an aging adult. 
• A significant number of adults ages 65 and over serve as caregivers for another aging adult. This age group, who themselves are advanced in age, is the second most likely age to be caregivers. 
• According to caregivers, though rewarding, caregiving can be an emotional rollercoaster, overwhelming and stressful physically, emotionally, and financially.

At Tidelands Community Hospice, your community’s only locally based not-for-profit hospice, the two statements we hear most often from family members who have been caregivers are, “We could not have done this without you. We wished we had called you sooner.” Below is information to help you know why having Tidelands Community Hospice care benefits the patient and the family caregivers and the advantage of having it sooner rather than later. 

• Tidelands Community Hospice care involves a team-oriented approach combining medical care, pain management, emotional, social and spiritual support tailored to the patient’s and family’s needs and desires with care provided where the patient lives, be it their home, a nursing home, or an assisted living facility.  
• While hospice care provides hospital beds, medications, medical supplies and equipment, the interdisciplinary team of medical directors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains, volunteer and bereavement coordinators and volunteers work with caregivers to provide support, comfort and training in caring for their loved one. 
• Tidelands Community Hospice care and services are available to all, regardless of their financial status or life situation. No one is ever turned away. Its care team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide care and support. 
• Charity Care, through Tidelands Community Hospice’s Foundation, provides hospice care, medications, medical supplies and equipment to patients and families in need. Its Patient Partner program helps meet their daily necessities — food, clothing, rent, utilities — while the Special Programs help with needs such as providing transportation for a family member to come be the caregiver, finding additional care, to granting wishes. 
• Tidelands Community Hospice’s care for the family/caregiver(s) does not end with the patient’s death. They continue to receive support through monthly letters and telephone calls up to one year after their loss. In addition, Monthly Support Groups are available to all in our community, not just hospice families, who are grieving the loss of a loved one. 

It is our belief, at Tidelands Community Hospice and Foundation, that no one at the end of life should be without the smallest of life’s necessities and no family should be without support and no one in our community who is grieving the loss of a loved one should be without comfort.