When a loved one has a serious illness like mesothelioma, the family members and friends usually rally around the patient to deliver aid practical and emotional support.
Meanwhile, it is important for caregivers to have realistic expectations of themselves, patients and other care providers. When everyone expresses their feelings and concerns in a healthy way, the patient benefits from teamwork.
However, this balance is not always easy. Emotions such as fear and frustration, as well as the caregiver stress, can lead to communication problems and disagreements between patients and caregivers.
Tips to minimize conflicts and cope with caregiver stress
Although the stress of cancer can be difficult to manage, there are a variety of techniques and tools that can help you minimize conflict and keep the patient's needs in focus center.
- identify the patient and other caregivers involved are unique individuals with their own personalities, strengths and skills There are not a good way to be a mesothelioma patient or caregiver .; there is just your way. Rather than telling someone how to help, let them offer help based on their strengths. For example, some caregivers would much rather do physical tasks for the patient, as the work of the court or shopping, but to stay with the patient for three hours in a chemotherapy center. A caregiver with major accounting and organizational skills might be the best person to help patients keep track of all medical expenses and insurance paperwork that accumulates during treatment.
- Always include the patient in discussions related care. Making assumptions about what the patient wants or needs usually leads to misunderstandings and unnecessary stress for the patient. Some patients feel comforted when relatives jump and take responsibility. Others need to keep control of things in their lives because many feel out of their control during treatment. People who prefer to control during treatment actually enjoy cooking, doing laundry and other tasks when they have energy.
- must understand that patients and their families cope with stress differently cancer . Again, there is no good way to cope with a diagnosis of mesothelioma or the responsibility of being a caregiver. However, the conflict usually results when patients or carers are informed they feel emotion "bad" or face "bad". Accept different thoughts, emotions and coping styles in others can be difficult, but ultimately, it goes a long way towards creating a harmonious care team.
- Using technology to coordinate care tasks or to communicate with caregivers. Strong communication is crucial, and there are many online resources available to help you achieve it. Lotsa Helping Hands allows patients and caregivers to create a task list and invite other caregivers to sign up to help. Train meals and take them a meal allow you to coordinate the delivery of meals to the patient and members of the family. CaringBridge allows patients or caregivers to easily share important health updates with friends and family in one place.
Overcoming struggles facing cancer
Working in the patient and family counseling department of a large cancer center for over a decade, I regularly helped patients and caregivers working in periods of conflict and stress. Most of the conflicts I noticed the family resulted in poor communication and patient unrealistic expectations or other caregivers.
Even doctors and nurses feel stress sometimes the responsibility of taking care of their patients. While caregivers may, like their patients, it is important to understand that they do not feel the love, affection or concern for their patients in the same way family and friends are patient.
is the love and affection that relatives readers to treat and support patients when they are ill. But those same emotions and worries can also fuel conflict between the patient and the caregiver or within the healthcare team.
Why would it?
Caregiving is not a contest
Some caregivers believe the quantity or quality of their caregiving duties is a reflection of how much they love the patient. For example, caregivers may feel obligated to attend every doctor appointment or treatment to show how much they love the patient.
It is not difficult to see how the conflict can develop if a team of family or providing full care feels compelled to demonstrate their love through their caregiving duties. It can also lead caregivers to not consider what their patients really want in terms of help and support from them.
Many patients have said it helps them feel better when their families treated "normally" and allows them to do tasks or activities by themselves. This is often preferred to have relatives insist the patient be supported as a sick person.
When families communicate in a healthy way and allow each other to express their opinions and views, then the team in care delivery is possible. Family meetings, either in person or by phone, allow the opportunity to share information, assign tasks and provide support to each other and the patient.
Some families may need help from a professional such as a counselor or social worker in oncology that can help mediate and promote healthy communication.
Remember that many major cancer centers offer these types of services.
