The next Caregiver Support Group meeting will be held Monday, July 15 at 1:30 p.m. in the Meditation Room in the front entrance of Veterans Memorial Hospital. When a person is diagnosed with a chronic illness, a lot of focus and attention is put on how to keep that person as independent and as healthy as possible.
When a person loses some of their abilities to care for themselves the burden of care is often assumed by the spouse, a child (or children), or sometimes friends and neighbors. While everyone who becomes a caregiver handles the added responsibility with different skill sets, attitudes and understanding levels, there is no question that there is a very real strain associated with care giving.
Recent studies have estimated that the stress caused just by becoming the caregiver of an adult with a chronic illness or disability will take seven years off of a person’s life. With more and more Iowans aging, this is a real concern within the local community.