Improving Family Caregiver Satisfaction
Frequently in healthcare, you are serving not only your patient or client, but their family caregivers too. Here are five tips for reducing their stress and improving their satisfaction so they complain less, and your patient benefits:
Reassure them. Caregivers crave reassurance that they are doing right by their loved ones. Don’t underestimate the power of validating what family caregivers are doing well. They don’t hear it enough.
Redirect them. While you want to reinforce what the caregiver is doing well, they still will often require redirection because their caregiving strategies are creating drama and burnout. For example, lots of caregivers like to complain about who in the family is not contributing. It’s okay to let them vent a little bit, but it’s important to quickly get them refocused on what they can control instead of what they can’t.
Remind them. Let family caregivers know that it’s far from selfish to put themselves first some of the time. The patient suffers when a family caregiver is exhausted, maxed out, and resentful.
Refer them. And keep referring them, even if you’ve suggested resources previously. Very seldom does a family caregiver seek additional help the first time they hear about a resource. Some good referrals include:
- Support groups
- Psychotherapy for themselves to deal with caregiver stress
- Talking to their family physician about their caregiver stress
- Non-profits that can help them such as:
Remember it’s up to them. It’s not your job to do everything for the family caregiver. You can give them advice, referrals, and suggestions, but ultimately, they are the only ones who can take the steps necessary to reduce their stress.
Jennifer L. FitzPatrick, MSW, LCSW-C, CSP
(Certified Speaking Professional)
is a speaker, consultant, author and founder of Jenerations Health Education, Inc. One of less than 800 Certified Speaking Professionals worldwide, Jennifer is the author of Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare and Cruising Through Caregiving: Reducing The Stress of Caring For Your Loved One. She was a gerontology instructor at Johns Hopkins University's Certificate on Aging program for over a decade and has been featured on ABC, CBS, Sirius XM and in Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Redbook, Fast Company and countless other media outlets. Her board appointments include serving as a Care Advisory Board Member for Seth Rogen & Lauren Miller Rogen's non-profit HFC (Hilarity for Charity).
For more information please go to www.jenerationshealth.com .
