A new, free eBook guide, Juggling Work and Caregiving, developed by AARP, sponsored by Pfizer, written by AARP’s Amy Goyer, and published by RosettaBooks, offers support and useful tips to people who are caregiving day-to-day or are planning for future needs, especially in balancing caregiving and work.
“Although caregiving can be a richly rewarding experience, the role comes with enormous responsibilities — and pressures,” said Amy Goyer, author of Juggling Work and Caregiving. Goyer, an expert in aging and families, provides insight, inspiration and her own poignant story as a live-in caregiver to her parents.
A study by the National Alliance for Caregiving, in collaboration with AARP, reveals that 73 per cent of caregivers are in the workforce and two-thirds of them say they must go in late, leave early or take other time off to meet their caregiving responsibilities.
The study concludes that whether caring for an ageing partner, an elderly parent, or a child with special needs, balancing the tasks of care with a regular job can be overwhelming. This is especially true if the caregiving situation has come unexpectedly, if the caregiver has no help, or if caregiving puts a heavy strain on the family budget.
In Juggling Work and Caregiving, Goyer’s practical advice on caregiving challenges includes:
Balancing work and caregiving: How to communicate with your employer, take full advantage of employer benefits, keep your career on track and manage work-life balance.
Caring for yourself, teamwork, staying organised: How to balance the time and energy of caregiving with your own interests and needs, build your team and learn practical approaches to organizing paperwork and household to save time, money and energy.
Navigating the legal maze and managing money: How to understand, in plain English, the basics, including advance directives, powers of attorney and estate planning, and how to increase income and lower expenses.
Handling health and medical care: How to manage complicated medical scenarios and evaluate the living situations of those in your care.
Experiencing the end of life and moving forward: How to support the people you care for sensitively through their final days and, as the caregiving ends, how to find your way to the next phase of your life.
“We believe that caregivers are both essential to our society and under-appreciated within it. Whatever your situation, this guide makes it clear: You are not alone,” said writes Freda Lewis-Hall, Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer in the foreword of the book.
“Juggling Work and Caregiving illustrates one of the many topics in which AARP is a leader by providing content that is important to its readers,” said Arthur Klebanoff, Chief Executive Officer, RosettaBooks.
EH News Bureau – Mumbai