Challenges for Caregivers

Challenges for Caregivers or family in caring for non-compliant elderly

Being a Caregiver is such a rewarding endeavor of life, especially when you are caring for the elderly and the old. But there are so many difficulties that periodically the caregiver faces every day. One of the worst case scenarios which have been the biggest challenge for some of the caregiver is that of dealing with someone who is a non-complaint patient, the care receiver.

Before we look into the challenges, it is equally important to understand the reasons behind not so compliant behavior of the one you are caring about.

These reasons may be as explicit as it can be counted and as implicit that one cannot figure out for long years:

• Dealing with the discomfort and expense from treatment
• Decisions based on personal value judgment/religion / cultural belief about the advantages and disadvantages of proposed treatment
• Maladaptive personality traits or coping styles (denial of illness)
• Presence of mental disorders (Schizophrenia, Avoidant personality behavior)
• Clients who are addicted to alcohol or other drugs are often erratic or noncompliant

When it is about their health care, and treating their addiction is often a pre requisite to treating other health care problems. Clients who are clinically psychotic present one of the greatest challenges to intervening with noncompliant behavior. There are reasons why they don’t give importance to the treatment plans:

Reasons to refrain from the treatment: The patients are not difficult. Something is seriously gone haywire with them that is the reason they don’t cooperate. There is, however, a huge difference between noncompliant patient and the non-cooperative patient.

Patients need clarification that they are not wrong. They are to be informed that medical treatment is for their own good. Patients might lose motivation before reaching the treatment goal and that is one of the reasons why they don’t cooperate. It feels shameful to undergo treatment, be bedridden for too long or boring.

However, above all, the onus of the mistreatment or missing out on treatment falls on the caregivers and the family members who are in-charge of the elderly patients. In the midst of everything, becoming aggressive or demanding or pressurizing will never work with them.

Addressing emotions and feelings: Addressing their fears, clearing them pertaining to any kind of illusions, help them learn to validate their feelings, reflecting how they have been healing with the little changes that are happening will take them a long way in keeping up with the treatment plans.

Dealing with atypical traits: Forgetting to take medicines, treating the disorder with exercise yet avoiding medicines, treating with split half medicines for the cost of it, consuming junk food or excessive smoking or taking alcohol are some of the typical characteristics of the aging elderly people.

Helping to fasten healing process: By simplifying the medicinal intake by scheduling the alarm clock, regulating the intake, using a diary to take notes, journaling about ‘today’s feelings’, showing up when the patient is really feeling down or having regular talk therapy like session, having some recreations activity. All these are ways to cure patients’ feelings of being tied down to a bed.

Dealing with burnout: Dealing with burnout is one of the most important things that a patients’ caregiver has to undergo all the time. During this time, dealing with burnout can be made an activity where even the noncompliant patient is involved. Activities that stir you both up can be introduced apart from developing a relationship between you for helping the bond strengthen beyond care giving.

Alternative way of dealing: All these propel the noncompliant patients to be on the same page and walk. Leading them or abusing them will not solve any problem. You need to persuade, coax and be patient with them in the wake of all the non-complaint behaviors.

#PapayaCare dealt with such behaviors. Ask PapayaCare for more advice.