Share the Care...Impressions
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-06-07 17:34:03.507886-04:00
I attended a Share The Care (STC) training session in September 2006. I had heard about the program during the spring and was interested. I was searching for something...knowledge…other kinds of skills…I wasn't sure. My family (parents and siblings) had all died years earlier and I knew what it was like to be 1) THE primary care giver, and, 2) the survivor. During the STC session I began to understand how STC would have/could have helped my family members and me.
The STC session was packed to capacity. I was overwhelmed by the numbers of genuinely compassionate, dedicated people who came together to learn ways to mend the fabric of lives that had been worn thin by illness.
I learned that STC supports the primary care giver in tangible and intangible ways. It allows the primary care giver relief from some of the overwhelming responsibility that comes with taking care of an ill parent, child, spouse, sibling. Tangibly, STC lightens the care giving load by spreading the duties over a number of people. It provides the intangible benefit of permitting the caregiver time, without guilt, to breathe again and continue living.
The primary care giver receives "permission" to resume her/his life for periods of time, without guilt, knowing that the loved one is still being carefully tended to. Our trainer emphasized that even with the variety of disciplines that volunteers bring to the STC patient network, STC does not interfere with whatever special needs (skilled care, etc.) the patient has. STC aids and supports the family and medical professionals. One other not so obvious benefit is that STC removes the isolation that sometimes accompanies illness and confinement. The STC network brings contacts, freshness, information, and interest to the patient. The patient remains connected with life until he/she wants solitude.
Jean Nofles is a Legislative Advocate for AARP Colorado.
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