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In Honor of National Family Caregivers Month: A Note on
Caring for Older Adults with a History of Trauma
By Barbara Joyce Bedney, PhD, MSW, Director of Research and
Evaluation, Center on Aging and Trauma, The Jewish Federations of North
America
November is National Family Caregivers Month, a time when we
recognize the millions of Americans who are caring for loved ones with
illnesses, disabilities, and other physical, cognitive, and mental health
conditions. From helping with shopping and transportation to providing
complex medical care in their own homes, these family caregivers are a
vital component of the health and long-term care system and a critical
resource sustaining our national economy. For older adults facing the
devastating toll of social isolation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic,
they are also a lifeline to the outside world and source of hope for
better days ahead.
But for many family caregivers, these are tasks made more
difficult as a result of trauma in the lives of the people they are
caring for.
Because trauma can lead to difficulties trusting others and
to fears of intimacy, for example, and trust and intimacy are
cornerstones of caregiving relationships, caring for individuals with a
history of trauma can be particularly difficult and stressful. For older
adults in particular, the changes associated with aging, such as
retirement, the loss of family members and friends, and declining health
can lead to the emergence of trauma symptoms years or even decades after
a traumatic experience. Older adults with a history of trauma are also
vulnerable to being retraumatized by sights, smells, events, and other
stimuli associated with past traumatic experiences. Many Holocaust
survivors, for example, hoard food as a result of the deprivation and
starvation they experienced during the Holocaust. For these survivors,
common caregiving activities around food, such as cleaning out the
refrigerator, can be retraumatizing. The acute anxiety that can result
from such retraumatization can be intensely stressful for family
caregivers, who may not know what caused the sudden upset or agitation in
their loved ones or know how to comfort them once it occurs.
At The Jewish Federations of North America Center on Aging
and Trauma, we are working with our partners to create ‘person-centered,
trauma-informed’ services for family caregivers to help them manage these
types of trauma-related issues while they carry out their caregiving
tasks. It is our way of answering the call of the Administration for
Community Living to RAISE (Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and
Engage) family caregivers. We are proud to be a part of this exciting
national movement through this work and hope you will join us in RAISING
the family caregivers in your communities.
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