CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 888-393-7754

Email:   Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado – September 23, 2019

The Caring Generation® Talk Radio Why Is Being A Caregiver Exhausting

Golden CO- Caregiving expert, Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation radio program for caregivers and aging adults this coming Wednesday, September 25, 2019, on the Bold Brave Media Global Network. The program airs live at 9 p.m. EST. The Caring Generation® originally aired from 2009 to 2011 on 630 KHOW-AM in Denver, Colorado.

The caregiving topic for this week's program is "Why Is Being A Caregiver Exhausting? Special guest Rita B. Choula, director of caregiving projects for the AARP Public Policy Institute, joins Pamela to talk about Why Caregivers Are Doing More based on information from the Home Alone caregiver study.

Tasks that previously were only completed by nursing staff are now completed by family caregivers who feel positive about helping elderly loved ones. Caregivers mention worrying about making mistakes that might harm aging parents or spouses.

Caregivers routinely manage medications, help with wheelchairs, and walkers. Add to this list preparing food for special diets, wound care, using blood pressure machines and blood sugar monitors, and assisting with bathing and incontinence.

Some caregivers assist with oxygen machines, ventilators, tube feeding, suctioning equipment, home dialysis equipment, and ostomies. These are activities that many family caregivers never dream of performing—yet many caregivers learn and perform these skills.

Caregivers employed in assisted living communities are not trained or permitted to help with these types of tasks and use of the advanced equipment. This transfer of responsibility to family caregivers supports the idea that elderly parents and spouses want to remain at home instead of going to a nursing home. Family members committed to the care of elderly family members take on the additional responsibility and burden of learning these skills instead of placing loved ones in nursing homes.

The reality is that few families an afford nursing home care at costs of over $125,000 a year. Many elderly persons living in nursing homes on a long-term basis access the public assistance benefit of Medicaid. Family members who support elderly parents and spouses remain at home are unpaid caregivers saving the government over $500 billion annually in care costs.

Each week, Caring Generation® radio features a special guest. On September 25, Rita Choula of the of the AARP Public Policy Institute joins Pamela. She is the director of caregiving projects, and she manages internal and external family caregiving initiatives to talk about an update the Home Alone Study initially published in 2012 study.

Family caregivers, neighbors, and friends are managing medical nursing tasks.  Medications, changing dressings, handling medical equipment, incontinence, pain, and managing special diets -- all functions that were previously done before by trained medical professionals are today completed by family caregivers. It's no wonder that caregivers are burned out and exhausted.

Joining The Caring Generation® radio program is a way everyone to become comfortable talking and laughing about aging, health, caregiving, and everything in between. There are many things to learn about life and being a caregiver.  Pamela's approach to caregiving is authentic and light-hearted. She believes that serious subjects benefit from humor and laughter. 

Make plans to join Pamela D. Wilson, caregiving expert and the host of The Caring Generation® radio at 6 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Mountain, 8 p.m. Central, and 9 p.m. Eastern.  Replays of the weekly programs are available in podcast format with transcripts on Pamela's website.  More information about online support and online courses for caregivers is available on Pamela website.  Podcast replays are available on I-Tunes, Spotify, and other distribution networks.

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