as a caregiver what is your personal reflections on the physical disabilities
Answers
As health care programs continue to circumscribe their service to persons with chronic, debilitating health conditions, many family members are compelled to assume caregiving roles (Hoffman, Rice, & Sung, 1996). In fact, available data indicate that family caregivers “ … constitute the largest group of care providers” in the United States (Parish, Pomeranz-Essley, & Braddock, 2003, p. 174), and as they provide the majority of long-term care in this country, the market value of their activity far exceeds that spent on formal health care and nursing home care (Vitaliano, Young, & Zhang, 2004, p. 13). Yet family caregivers function as de facto healthcare providers without adequate training or appropriate remuneration (Shewchuk & Elliott, 2000): They are expected to operate competently as extensions of health care systems, often performing complex medical and therapeutic tasks, helping a loved one perform and adhere to therapeutic regimens (Donelan et al., 2002).