Four Tips for Being a Caregiver to Someone with Developmental Disabilities
When someone that you love has a developmental disability, their life may feel more difficult in general. As that person’s caregiver, it falls to you to make lots of decisions about that person’s life and surroundings. If you’re not careful, caregiving can take a big toll on you and on the entire family.
Learn as Much as You Can
Information is always a powerful tool. The more that you know and understand about your family member’s developmental disabilities, the more powerful an advocate you can be on her behalf. Talk to your family member’s doctors and do as much research as you can on your own. Every new bit of information that you add to your arsenal strengthens your abilities as a caregiver.
Take Care of Yourself So You Can Keep Being a Caregiver
Caregiving is incredibly demanding, both physically and emotionally. When you’re taking the best care of yourself that you possibly can, you’re making caregiving easier on yourself. Make sure that you’re doing all that you can do in order to keep yourself going as a caregiver. That might mean making some small and large changes to how you eat, how you prioritize sleep, and how often you take breaks to allow yourself to recharge.
Get Support for Yourself and Your Family Member
You need to make sure that you’ve got the emotional and general support that you need. It’s also vital that your family member has the support that she needs. Services like residential habilitation services, or RHS, can give your family member the support she needs. RHS can help your family member to develop skills that allow her to be more independent, like learning to cook simple meals or run errands with help. Other goals may be possible, too, depending on your family member’s existing skillset.
Keep Your Entire Family in Mind
When you’re a caregiver for someone who needs a lot of your time and attention, you may find that you’re spending disproportionate amounts of time with certain situations. It’s vital to make sure that all members of the family feel as if they’re important and equally cared for. This might mean that you take some time to plan special get togethers with family members individually and with the family as a whole.
Making sure that everyone in the family has what they need is a delicate balancing act. Getting the help that each of you need is crucial and isn’t a step you can overlook.
If you are considering residential habilitation in Lawrence, IN, please call the caring staff at RSI Cares. Serving Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: 317-471-0750.
As a practicing Registered Nurse, Etelka was keenly aware of a void in quality patient care that could be provided in the home. She embarked upon a journey to develop a home health care agency that would exceed all expectations and become a trusted partner to physicians and patients.
A Distinguished Career From Nurse to Director of Nursing to President of Home Services Unlimited
Etelka’s distinguished career followed a logical progression to her position as President of Home Services Unlimited. She graduated as a nurse practitioner with a Bachelor of Nursing (RN) in 1972 from Meshgorya University in the Ukraine, close to where she lived with her family. She married her husband Phil in 1973 and decided in 1977 that they would relocate to the United States to be closer to family and to come to this land of opportunity. With an eagerness to continue her budding career, Etelka sat for and passed her Boards in the U.S. in 1979.
A Love and Talent for Working with the Elderly
Etelka began her nursing career in the U.S. at Colonial Crest, now part of Golden Living, where shewasthe In-service Coordinator, the Director of Training and Education and Director of Nursing, a position she occupied for several years.
With a group of partners, she co-founded Adept Corporation, which operated group homes for the mentally challenged. The business was successful and in 1996, Etelka sold her share to return to her roots, caring for the elderly.
In January of 1997, Etelka opened Home Services Unlimited as a fully licensed business to provide home health care. In her quest to learn to do better for her patients, she had already obtained a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) in May of 1990 from the College of St. Francis. As President of Home Services Unlimited, Inc., Etelka guides the trusted, experienced care model Home Services Unlimited uses to continue providing excellent home health care.
Giving Back to the Community of Indianapolis
Volunteering for community services is a high priority for Etelka. Her memberships include the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Executive Women in Health Care and the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care, where she is a member of the Board of Directors.
Etelka has also served on the Board of Directors with Hooverwood Home, a highly regarded geriatric facility, since 1997 and as the President for 2005-2006. Through her community work, she has received several awards and accolades, including the Nora McFarland award in 2002, from the Indiana Association of Home and Hospice Care.
Etelka was honored as a “Health Care Hero” by the Indianapolis Business Journal. The issue can be read online here:
http://mags.ibj.com/activemagazine/welcome/html/ibjhch.html.
After clicking on the link, then click on the image of the issue’s front page. After that, you can browse through the issue or click in a box near the top of your internet browser to adjust the page to 17, which is where Etelka’s article appears.
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