who cares for the caregivers

WHO CARES FOR THE

by ali wiggins

ali wiggins

A native of Jackson County, Florida. She has been in the longterm care pharmacy industry since 1993, and recently retired.

Caregiver. Simply translated it means, a person that spends a substantial amount of their time taking care of someone else. Does this sound like anyone you know? It does to me. It sounds like almost every staff member in senior living communities across this nation. Giving up their own time and spending significant time with your residents. Yes, I know, it’s their job, but who cares for the caregivers? Let’s talk about the impact of hurricanes for a moment. When a hurricane begins to form, what do we do? It is fight or flight, right? I am a native Floridian and have worked in long-term care pharmacy for the better part of 30 years. I can tell you that the leaders in this industry watch the weather almost as much as our farmers do. They must decide if we will shelter in place or evacuate. We must take all things into consideration and make the best possible choice for the seniors in our care. And those seniors and their families rely on us to make the right choice. The preparation process whether we stay or go is still a tedious one. A checklist of matters must be handled. I have been blessed to have worked alongside some amazing people and worked for some great companies that have done all they could to provide support in times of severe and unavoidable weather. The seniors in your care have, in my opinion, always been put first in the decisions you have had to make. But who cares for the caregivers? The caregivers in long-term care communities often neglect their own homes and loved ones to be with our seniors and to give them the best possible care in such stressful times as a hurricane. Some experience damage to their own property once they arrive home after the storm passes and the seniors in their care are safe and back home in your communities. Some are left with minimal means in order to repair this damage in order to return to work and carry on their cause of caring for our seniors.

So, who cares for the caregivers while they are caring for our seniors? Well, the answer is quite simple. We do. We care for each other. This industry takes care of its own. If you have been blessed enough to either have no personal damage to your own property during one of these horrific hurricanes, or blessed enough to have the ability and the means to fix any damage you may have had, wouldn’t you like to take an opportunity to bless those that aren’t so fortunate?

Let me give you some examples of the caregivers that Florida Senior Living Association is trying to help right now. • A 70-year young industry partner, a housekeeper that must now live in the community where she works because her apartment was a total loss from flooding, and she can’t quite find affordable housing.

She lost everything. She was at her community while her home and everything she owned was destroyed. Help us her. • An activities director that is still using sandbags to secure her door because she lost everything and doesn’t have the means to pay for a secure one. Sand. Bags. Surely, we can find a way to help her. • A resident care coordinator was trapped in her home for 32 hours and couldn’t get to her residents to care for them. TRAPPED! How scary. She lost pay and is having trouble catching back up. Now that you have read a little about those caregivers that are less fortunate, how will you show up for them? How will you show up for them the way they have shown up for you, your community and our seniors?

What I love about all the people that I have been fortunate enough to work with for over three decades, is how we also care for each other. With all the uncertainty in this world today, help Florida Senior Living Association show the world the compassion we still have for those that fight the battles and man the front lines to show their love for this industry. If you have the means to help, please donate to the Florida Senior Living Fund that is set aside to help those described. Help them fix their lives so they can go back to helping our seniors without the worry of the destruction they step over daily, like sandbags in their homes so that they can get back to caregiving.

Donate to the ALF Staff Hurricane Relief Fund.