Releases from April 8, 2008

Grandparents as parents: Childhood stress

By Shirley Carson

Kansas Senior Press Service                            

If you are among the grandparents who have taken on the responsibility of raising one or more grandchildren, your days are filled with challenges and problems. It’s easy to forget that our grandchildren also experience pressures that can cause stress.
Stressful situations are a normal part of life. They can help both adults and children learn to solve problems and become stronger people. But too much stress can cause problems, especially for children.

As we assume parenting responsibility for our grandchildren, we have to perform a difficult balancing act. We need to buffer them from the effects of too much stress, but we also need to help them meet challenges and solve problems by themselves. Here’s some advice to help ease your grandchild’s daily dose of stress:

• School means opportunities for learning and making friends. But it can also mean things to worry about, like homework, tests, and relationships. It’s common for children to worry about being liked and accepted by other children. We can help by taking an interest in what happens at school every day (not just in the classroom, but on the playground, too), praising their efforts, encouraging them, and not putting too much pressure on them to get top grades.
• Organized sports can cause real anxiety for some children when there’s a lot of pressure to win. Teach your grandchildren to participate for the sake of enjoyment, not just to win or to please you. Praise their efforts, especially if they or their team lose. Help your grandchildren understand that good sportsmanship is more important than winning. And don’t forget to teach by example!
• Children fear change, just as many adults do. Encourage your grandchildren to welcome changes in their lives, rather than fear them. You can help by providing new experiences and activities and always giving your support.
• Give your grandchildren the chance to solve problems for themselves. Jumping in and solving problems for them may seem like a caring thing to do, and sometimes it’s the easiest. In the long run, though, you’ll just make it harder for your grandchildren to solve problems for themselves. Always be there to discuss solutions with them, offer suggestions, and praise them for their efforts to work things out.
• Giving children the chance to perform new tasks will help them feel competent and increase their confidence. Make sure the tasks aren’t too hard for them, and remember that they’re only children; don’t expect them to perform like adults.
• Make sure your grandchildren have plenty of opportunities to run around and play. Physical activity reduces stress. Ball games, skipping, bike riding, running, jumping and swimming are all good. We need to provide plenty of opportunities for our grandchildren to play (remember how much fun it was when we were kids?).
• Allow your grandkids time to daydream. Free time for unstructured play, time just to sit and think, is important for children’s emotional growth.
• Be aware of how much television your grandchildren watch. Then limit how much they watch and what they watch. Do they have enough time to play, think and talk to you without the distraction of TV?
• Remember that being a supportive and loving parent who praises children for their efforts (not just their successes) in all areas of their lives will help them become well-adjusted, confident adults.
• Finally, seek professional help for your grandchildren if necessary.

Best wishes as you endeavor to teach and nurture the precious grandchildren in your care!

Shirley Carson, RN, is a retired nurse and grandmother who lives in Olathe, Kan. Since raising her three oldest grandchildren, her desire is to encourage others who are parenting their grandchildren.

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Group caregiving can ease the strain

By Lynn Anderson
Kansas Senior Press Service

In a time when the medical establishment is overburdened, grown children live far away, marriages split up, friends relocate and immediate family members are already stressed, caregiving can be an increasingly isolated and stressful experience. But an unusual group model of care offers a simple yet effective solution.

ShareTheCaregiving, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public, health professionals and clergy about group caregiving as a proven option for meeting the needs of the seriously ill or dying, those in rehabilitation, the elderly in need of assistance, and their caregivers. ShareTheCaregiving uses a widely adopted group caregiving model known as Share the Care.

The Share the Care model provides a road map on how to take a group of ordinary individuals (friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances) and turn them into a “caregiver family” to help individuals and families meet the daily challenges of caregiving.

Since it began in 1995, Share the Care has been welcomed by individuals, communities, church parishes and health care professionals as a loving, pragmatic approach to caregiving that can succeed whether a person is ill with cancer, AIDS, ALS or Alzheimer’s disease, recuperating from a serious injury, or elderly and in need of assistance.

Share the Care is a detailed, step-by-step model that shows how to:

• Create a caregiver “family” from friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers and acquaintances.
• Answer the often-asked question, “How can I help?”
• Hold a meeting that will turn a group of ordinary people into a powerful caregiving team.
• Organize the team using a simple system and a workbook guide that guarantees every job will get done and no one will have too much to do.
• Discover the hidden talents within the group, make the most of each person’s resources, cope with group issues, and stay together in the face of adversity.
• Navigate the medical maze of doctors, hospitals, treatments and medications.
• Deal with your own emotional issues and fears while helping a person who is facing her or his mortality.
• Make caregiving a meaningful, loving experience and replace stress, fear and loneliness with teamwork, courage and friendship.
  

Whether you’re a burned-out caregiver or a first-time caregiver, you can benefit from a system that lets you share responsibilities, establish a support network and make a real difference in someone’s life.

Share the Care is based on the experiences of the workbook authors and 10 other women who came together to help care for a terminally ill friend. Although they were mostly strangers to each other, they stayed together for three and a half years, developing a unique system of caregiving as well as deep friendships that have lasted over time.

This model is for you if:

• You have never been a caregiver.
• Someone you love has a serious illness, the ill person turns to you and you don’t know what to do.
• You’ve been taking care of someone who’s seriously ill for a long time and you can’t do it alone anymore.

The Share the Care model is available online at www.ShareTheCare.org. The site, which is colorful and compelling, includes a way to obtain the Share the Care guidebook, places where users can share their experience and advice with others, and even a special section for caregivers of ALS patients. If you do not use the Internet, there are other ways to reach this organization:

ShareTheCaregiving, Inc.
551 Fifth Ave., 28th Floor
New York, NY 10176
Phone 646-467-8097
Fax 212-672-1501
E-mail info@ShareTheCaregiving.org

Lynn Anderson is the editor of The Best Times, a monthly newspaper for JohnsonCounty residents age 60 and over.

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Healthy minds: Bipolar disorder

By Carol Roeder-Esser
Kansas Senior Press Service

There has been a lot of attention in the media recently about bipolar disorder. Also known as manic-depressive illness, bipolar disorder is a mental illness characterized by frequent and sudden mood shifts, between mania and depression, with a “normal” period in between. The shifts, commonly called “episodes,” affect the sufferer’s mood, energy level and ability to manage daily tasks.

Instead of the normal ups and downs that most people go through, people with bipolar disorder tend to have extreme shifts in their moods. These shifts can cause them to struggle in maintaining relationships with family, friends or co-workers, to have difficulty with school or work, and even to feel suicidal at times. However, with proper treatment, people with this disorder can lead productive lives.

Bipolar disorder affects 5.7 million American adults. Most begin to notice symptoms in late adolescence or early adulthood, although the disorder can begin in childhood or later in life. Most researchers agree that it has no single cause and that many factors contribute to the disorder. However, because bipolar disorder tends to run in families, researchers are looking at genes that may be inherited from one or both parents. In addition, people with bipolar disorder have chemical changes in the brain that contribute to their mood swings. These changes continue to be studied for their cause and effect.

People with bipolar disorder may go from being incredibly full of energy, feeling euphoric, with no need for sleep, to feeling so sad and hopeless that they can’t get out of bed in the morning. Between swings, they may have periods in which their mood seems fairly stable. Many people find it helpful to think of the moods on a continuum, where one end represents the mania phase, the other end the depressive phase, and the more balanced mood in the middle.
Symptoms of mania include:

• Increased energy and restlessness
• Extreme irritability
• Racing thoughts, the mind leaping from one idea to another
• Very loud and rapid talk
• Difficulty with concentration
• Decreased need for sleep
• Inflated sense of self-esteem, with grandiose ideas about one’s abilities
• Involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high risk for bad consequences (spending sprees, abuse of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving)

Symptoms of depression include:

• Feelings of sadness or anxiety
• Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
• Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
• Loss of interest in activities that used to be pleasurable
• Low energy, fatigue, a sense of being slowed down
• Increased need for sleep or inability to sleep
• Difficulty concentrating and inability to make decisions
• Change in appetite or unintended weight loss or gain

Bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that requires treatment throughout the lifetime. After diagnosis, those with the disorder would do well to develop a plan of treatment with their physician or a licensed mental health professional.

Treatment generally includes a combination of medication therapy and psychotherapy. Medication can help maintain the brain’s chemical balances. Psychotherapy can help the person deal with situations and people in ways that may avert a manic-depressive episode.

In most cases, it is much easier to control the symptoms of bipolar disorder when the person receives treatment continuously, rather than repeatedly stopping and starting treatment.

Carol Roeder-Esser, LSCSW, is a program specialist with the JohnsonCountyMentalHealthCenter.

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Tips to help prevent falls

By Kansas Senior Press Service

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that falls are the leading cause of injury for Americans age 65 years and older and the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. More than one-third of adults 65 and older fall each year.

The CDC has released new educational materials to help older adults prevent falls. “Check for Safety: A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults” helps people identify possible fall hazards and suggests solutions for each room of the home. “What You Can Do to Prevent Falls” focuses on five key messages:

• Exercise regularly. Exercise programs like t’ai chi that increase strength and improve balance are especially useful.
• Ask your doctor or pharmacist to review your medications — both prescription and over-the-counter — to reduce side effects and interactions.
• Have your eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year.
• Improve the lighting in your home.
• Reduce hazards in your home that can lead to falls.

Fall-prevention materials are available online in English, Spanish and Chinese at www.cdc.gov, or call 800-232-4636.

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These articles are also available electronically at the Center on Aging Website: http://www2.kumc.edu/coa/Senior_Press_Article/Topic_Index.htm