"I'm running a maze and then handed plates to spin" -A Caregiver's Life

A caregiver is a person who provides help to an individual who requires assistance with daily tasks and living. Which can be due to aging, disease, mental disorders, or other disabilities.?In some situations, the recipient for care is suffering from 2 or more of the previously mentioned conditions.

There are 50+ million caregivers in the US alone, this number only accounts for those willing to raise their hand and be counted as a “caregiver”. A vast majority of caregivers (85%) care for a relative or other loved one.

The total value of informal or family caregiver services has grown significantly over the past two decades, with an estimated economic impact of $470 billion in 2017. (the latest data publicly available)

My wife and I learned while caring for our oldest son, we would just become at ease in a rhythm of caring for him when another bomb would be dropped on us. ?We dealt with constant financial, physical, and emotional woes, intricacies of the healthcare system, a hostile government disability program at the federal and state levels, and unexpected legal matters. ?Which led to our own health problems including the common symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

Having spent the better part of three decades in the tech industry I searched for easy ways to learn what I didn’t know about being a caregiver for our son. The tools and resources I did find were outdated and not easily accessed. I kept searching and finally went about building an app that will help lighten the burden of caregivers. I have drawn upon the years of failures and successes from my own journey and have made use of the extensive network of resources I have built.

As caregiver I wish I could have better understood the importance of:

???????????-Navigating the Social Security system and the “bluebook”

???????????-What a Lifecare Plan is

???????????-Navigating legal matters like guardianship and divorce

???????????-What ICD-10 codes are and the role they play

???????????-The importance of self-care

???????????-The difference between Curative, Palliative, and Hospice care

???????????-Adding a dependent that aged out back onto my employers’ healthcare plan

According to the CDC “Caregivers typically learn as they go and aren’t formally trained.” This is where the Advocate Hero app hopes to play a unique role, by educating caregivers where they are in their journey. This is done through on demand training, community forums, live weekly calls, and more.

More information on Advocate Hero can be found at the below links:

Click here for the iOS App:?shorturl.at/ejoH2

Click here for the Google App:?shorturl.at/DPTX7

The Browser based version of Advocate Hero can be found here:?https://lnkd.in/dwZVagh4

Websites and articles referenced in this post:

Caregiver.org: https://www.caregiver.org/resource/caregiver-statistics-demographics/

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/supporting-caregivers.htm

Respect Care Givers: https://respectcaregivers.org/caregiver-statistics/

National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK396402/

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