Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Caregivers of ailing veterans face greater challenges, but you can help
In November, Americans celebrate National Veterans and Military Families Month, honoring all who have worn the uniform while acknowledging the loved ones who have stood proudly by their side. We also observe National Family Caregivers
Month, recognizing, supporting, and empowering family caregivers. As a Member of AmeriCorps Legacy Corps for Veterans and Military Families, sponsored by Easter Seals South Florida, this 11th period of the year is particularly meaningful for me because it commemorates the three populations I serve on a daily basis: veteran care recipients, their caregivers, and military families.
As a Legacy Corps member, I offer inhome respite care to veteran caregivers and military families across South Florida. My services grant the caregiver precious time to accomplish activities they may not otherwise be able to enjoy. t, The duties of a caregiver are often all-consuming and frequently mentally and physically exhausting, especially for an extended amount of time. Those administering care to veterans face a unique set of challenges.
In 2010, the National Alliance for Caregiving issued the landmark study, Caregivers of Veterans-Serving on the Homefront, chronicling such hardships. Caregivers of veterans self-reported more than twice the level of emotional stress compared to caregivers of non-veteran adults. On average, caregivers of veterans provided care for a longer duration than their peers caring for non-veteran recipients. This can compound feelings of burnout and frustration among caregivers of veterans. Perhaps most compelling, caregivers of veterans described almost three times the level of physical strain and a distressing four times the level of economic hardship in contrast to their non-veteran caretakers. Lastly, the survey found caregivers of veterans had a higher burden of care due to the veteran’s dependency on the caregiver to assist with vital functions such as dressing, bathing, and feeding.
Fortunately, Legacy Corps members are able to make a tangible difference. In addition to providing respite care, Legacy
Corps members inform the caregiver of coping strategies, social services, and other resources to ease stress and to improve familial harmony. While our duties are strictly non-medical, we advise the caregiver of various conditions that may impact their care recipient and suggest solutions on how to adequately address these ailments. The special conditions include traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, and environmental-chemical illnesses
Nationwide, the majority of veteran care recipients are male, the largest groups having served in the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom. More often than not, the caregiver is a female spouse. Care recipients in the Legacy Corps program include veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The majority of Easter Seals’ elderly clients have a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s. ts. Although always paramount ;Effective, empathetic caregiving becomes even more critical as the recipient approaches their closing chapter. Legacy Corps members educate caregivers on the importance of assisting their veteran in obtaining peace, understanding, and forgiveness.
During a recent training for Legacy Corps members on caregiving best practices and military culture, a former VA nurse, a veteran herself, recounted an exceptionally heartbreaking story of a former patient’s last moments. The patient, also a female veteran, served as a combat nurse in the jungles of Vietnam. With morphine typically in short supply, it was this woman’s sole discretion that determined which servicemen received relief and which perished in agony. Now in the end stages of ovarian cancer, the veteran refused repeated attempts by hospital staff to mitigate her suffering. Haunted by the perceived hypocrisy of her actions and survivor’s guilt weighing heavily, the veteran preferred to punish herself rather than receive what she viewed as having cruelly denied so many in a similar situation nearly four decades ago. No amount of reassurance or absolution from friends and family or impassioned pleas from medical personnel would convince her she did what she could under incredibly difficult circumstances. Ultimately, the veteran expired in excruciating pain — carrying the invisible scars of moral injury with her to the grave.
To prevent these tragic instances from occurring, Legacy Corps members encourage caregivers to engage their care recipients in conversation about their service and wartime experiences early on in the care cycle. Not only does this ensure oral histories are recorded and preserved for future kin, it begins the delicate process of healing trauma or regret, advancing the likelihood reconciliation will be reached.
In order to truly thank a veteran for his or her service, we must comprehend and appreciate the complexities associated with military service. We must not pressure a veteran to divulge details they would rather keep close to the vest. However, if a veteran care recipient is interested and willing, please facilitate his or her participation in the Veterans History Project. Through a partnership with the Library of Congress, veterans service stories will be archived. For a veteran care recipient in hospice, this exercise may generate the closure necessary to achieve a peaceful passage.
As we salute veterans, military families, and their caregivers this month, please credit the caregiver and the military family as equally as the veteran — for they too are performing an act of patriotism. If you encounter a veteran caregiver in your neighborhood struggling to manage, volunteer to step-in. Visit your local nursing or retirement home to connect with veteran care recipients. Or, join the ranks of AmeriCorps Legacy Corps for Veterans and Military Families. Caring for both the veteran care recipient and their caregiver is a rewarding and urgent responsibility.