We Lead During our Caregiving Experience
We need messaging which speaks to our leadership.
Before the third National Caregiving Conference in 2018, a sponsor called me to share an idea they had for their exhibit. They wanted to create a photo booth for attendees to take selfies holding a sign that described their caregiving role.
This sounds great, I said.
Then they shared examples of the words to be featured on the signs: Driver, cook.
I lost my words, as my mouth dropped. I couldn’t believe a sponsor would ask family caregivers attending a conference that honors them to hold up signs that dismiss and discount their true work and value.
That conversation led me to design a tool that celebrates our strengths and an assessment which highlights our creative side.
Recently, I reviewed the work of the Family Caregiving Institute which developed nine domains to assess family caregiver preparedness. According to the Institute, “(t)he Family Caregiver Domains of Preparedness are designed to be used by educators, clinicians, and researchers ‘in the development and application of culturally appropriate educational materials, apps, and other resources.’”
The first domain is household tasks.
My ability to cook, do laundry and shop would never have prepared me for the day when my father received his bladder cancer diagnosis in 2004.
We so often miss the mark in our understanding of and our messaging about the family caregiver experience. Our experience includes tasks but it turns on our ability to lead. We lead by pursuing the correct diagnosis for our caree when the system misdiagnoses. We lead by beginning difficult conversations with our carees about their ability to continue driving. We lead by calling out providers when they deliver sub-par care. We lead by carefully choosing our team of care, support and solutions.
Sure, I cook and clean. More important, I lead just like every other family caregiver. The systems just follow behind.
How do you lead? Please share your leadership during caregiving stories in our comments section, below.
(Image by InspiredImages from Pixabay)
Resources
Enroll in our Certified Family Care Manager Training to receive support and knowledge to help you as you care for a family member. Enrollment in our pilot program is free.
Sign our petition, Campaign to ACT, which offers solutions to use existing funds in different ways to better serve family caregivers.
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This is such a fantastic message, Denise. I am right with you. We don't realise the hard and soft leadership skills that we gain until someone points them out. I wrote this blog post a couple of years ago about just this topic. https://www.donnathomson.com/2016/07/write-your-own-sizzling-post-caregiving.html Thank you for YOUR leadership!