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Healthy Aging By Sharon Johnson Let�s thank caregivers for their hard work We take care of our own. Yes, we care. Some people seem to care more than others. They take care and give care � all day and every day. They care for kids (we call it "day care") and individuals with special needs. They care for elders (sometimes we call it "elder care" or "adult day care"). Caregivers come in all forms. Some are exceptional �unbelievable, really. The level of care they provide to loved ones, 24 hours a day for long days that turn into long years, is beyond simple comprehension. There are not words that can begin to describe it. Others give care because it is their job and they are paid to do it. Not enough pay, though. In spite of that fact, some of those caregivers are exceptional, too. Some less so. All of them do a job that is demanding beyond understanding. If it is done well, it stretches and challenges every mental and physical resource. Even if done poorly, it still tests stamina and stomach. November was National Caregiver Month. A time we should look to caregivers and say something acknowledging. But what do we say? "How can you do this? How hard it must be for you." Or, "You are amazing. I would never be able to have the patience you have." Or, "Where do you find the strength?" Millions of Americans are in the role of caregivers. AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, reports almost one-quarter of all households contain one adult who is caring for someone 50 years or older. Most frequently, the caregiver is a woman. Two-thirds of the caregivers are employed in jobs other than their caregiving jobs, and four out of 10 have children of their own. The caregivers I know most intimately are heroes. There is Mary, who cared for her aging husband with Alzheimer�s disease in their family home for more than 12 years. In the later years, she constantly massaged his throat because he had forgotten how to swallow. There is my friend, John, who has battled mental and physical illnesses of his own for most of his life, yet still brought his frail 80-year-old mother, who had no other place to go, to live with him in his one-bedroom apartment. There is the aide in an assisted-living facility I visit who gives care as if she delights in it. Constantly smiling, greeting, touching � perhaps you could even call it caressing � the most cantankerous of residents. I recall a colleague, Bob, quadriplegic because of a rare progressive genetic condition and only able to move his eyelids and his right index finger. His wife, Judy, cared for him at home, with only a few hours a week of respite, for more than 18 years. There are many local caregiving stories. During the coming month, I intend to tell a few of them. Ordinary people doing the most extraordinary (caring) things. As many of you may be, I am looking for a way to say, "Thank you." Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.