Family caregivers play an important role in the home health care industry yet they have been continuously sidelined from major public health policies. As the need for caregivers continue to grow, most families are now turning to their own family members for their personal home care needs.
Most family caregivers are under 18 years old and go through life everyday switching roles as students and caregivers. Children as young as 12 are now busy helping their loved ones take care of their illnesses through activities such as meal planning and hygiene care, vital sign checks, range of motions, bathing, medication administration and palliative care.
Take for instance the case of Azaria, a 12-year-old Pennsylvanian boy who has since dropped his career ambition in order to provide care for his mother who was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness when he was just 7 years old. Three times every day, he turns his mother’s legs, fingers and toes to relax muscles and facilitate blood flow to avoid blood clots from forming. In addition, he prepares all her meals, feeds her, brushes her teeth, transition her between the wheelchair and her bed and clean her up every time she’s soiled or wet.
“Sometimes, I just fall asleep in class,” was what a 12-year-old girl from Florida noted in her letter while describing her life as a caregiver for her dad who had been diagnosed with kidney failure. For others such as Akim, the journey has been tough and unbearable.
In addition to taking care of her great grandmother who is bed bound and oxygen dependent, she’s also responsible for her 4-year-old brother who has cognitive disabilities.
She has to feed, bath and dress him every day and also make sure that her grandmother gets repositioned frequently to avoid bed sores, gets a bed bath, is changed each time she is wet or soiled, and that her oxygen level is frequently monitored.
As the aging population continue to spike and the rate of chronic illnesses increases, more than 70% of underage children will continue to stay at home taking care of their elderly parents or loved ones while policy makers continue to turn a blind eye to the plight that this young generation face.