Memory Care Facility

Responses for two student’s posts

Human Diversity and Human Rights

Disability Studies

NEED RESPONSES FOR TWO STUDENT’S POSTS

Response posts are expected to be at least 200 words each

 

Required Textbooks:

Garcia-Irate, E., McConkey, R., & Gilligan, R. (2016). Disability and human rights: global perspectives. New York: Palgrave.

Obrien, R. (2001). Crippled Justice. The History of Modern Disability Policy in the Workplace. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

DISCUSSION WEEK 9 POST QUESTIONS WAS: Why do think that Garcia chose to discuss the importance of supporting caregivers and aging with a disability in consecutive chapters? Discuss some of the unique challenges that arise from supporting an older disabled person rather than a younger one.

 

STUDENT’S POST #1

Kelly Raab,

 

I am a caregiver at a memory care facility, so I take care of people with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and other diseases such as Parkinson’s. I have been working there for 3 plus years and from my experience, it is a valuable job but it is also one of the hardest ones I have had. Taking care of someone as if they were family, you take care of them on their death bed, so you feel the loss like the actual family. From another class I learned about something called vicarious trauma- this is a trauma you may experience when being indirectly exposed to a traumatic event. I personally have felt compassion fatigue- this has happened many times, but when covid hit our building there were so many losses that it became normalized, and didn’t feel it. There is also burnout, in this job, there is a high turnover rate, you are physically and mentally put to the test every day when you get to work…  You are taking on conflict because some folks with Alzheimer’s believe they are back in the war or are at work as a police officer and they are in the process of arresting someone. These are just examples but I can tell you from personal experience these people are stronger than you think, one resident I believe was really close to breaking my thumb (I was holding their hand and then they started to resist and started to tighten their grip and pulled back on my thumb).

 

The facility that I work at is very expensive to live at. At one point someone said it costs $7,000 plus a month to live there. A few families had to pull their loved ones from the facility because the money ran out from their retirement or trusts, so the families came and brought their loved ones back home, and they took care of them. To be honest, I think that is the way it should be, everyone should be able to take care of their own family members, an old coworker once told me that if you are able to get yourself up and dressed and take yourself to the bathroom you can do it for somebody else. From my experience at the facility I work at, there are a lot of people to take care of, instead of one on one care (at home), it is one caregiver for 8-10 people or more. So you might be able to imagine that cares are late (cares meaning ADL’s- Activities of Daily Living – like taking people to the bathroom, showering, brush teeth, and eating)

 

STUDENT’S POST #2

Joseph Szekely,

I think that Garcia chose to discuss support for caregivers and ageing persons with disabilities because they are interconnected, each relying heavily on the other. This is an important concept to bring up because I think that it is important to not only look at the person being supported but the supportive person as well. It seems like these areas could easily be overlooked when it comes to looking at the factors that go into supporting a person with a disability as they age. After reading Kelly’s post and looking over these chapters the idea of interconnectedness seemed all the more important. The idea of the quality of life also came to me while considering why Garcia chose to put these chapters into the book. In order to provide quality and effective care, both caregiver and receiver of care need to be considered, especially in the case of ageing individuals. There are several examples of challenges that come to mind when considering ageing persons with disabilities as well.

Many of the challenges that come to mind are commonplace for ageing individuals, for example, more challenges with daily activities, arthritis, and mental disabilities like Alzheimer’s or dementia. What might make caregiving more challenging is the fact that these common age-related struggles can increase the demands of care on the caregiver making it harder to provide effective care. Also, the effects of ageing can present a unique challenge to the elderly vs the younger individuals in the realm of movement and remaining active. This reduction in movement can reduce the number of social interactions and overall quality of life, leading to additional challenges revolving around mental health. Overall, considerations for both the caregiver and person being supported should be considered more deeply, especially with it comes to additional challenges that may come up because of age.