Flanna Perkins, CEO of Fedelta Home Care in Seattle & Portland, Oregon, joins Suzanne to talk about caregivers getting extra assistance. Fedelta provides companionship care, respite care, post hospital care, daily living assistance, long-term care, end of life comfort & care, and personal care.

Flanna says, "There are two types of caregivers. There's what we would call the informal caregiver. Suzanne, you were the informal caregiver for your mother: you were providing care for her, it was unpaid, you were doing it because she was your mom, out of the kindness of your heart. And then there are the caregivers that our company hires, paid caregivers, people that come in and provide paid support for folks. And one thing that we see so often that happens is when people finally make it to us, a lot of times that informal caregiver is really burnt out, frustrated."

She adds, "And a lot of families feel guilt. They feel like they should be doing more for their loved one. They also feel like they shouldn't be asking for outside help at times, they should do it on their own. And really, when we come in, we're saying, 'Hey, where are the pain points for you? What are the places that are creating extra stress?' And we find those areas, and say, what if we just take these things off of your plate? We don't want to take everything away. That's not the goal for any professional that comes in, and provides care for additional assistance. But you know, it's pretty powerful when you get the full care team together to provide care. Kind of almost that kind of 'takes a village' concept, when you're providing care for a loved one. And a lot of times we don't really plan or understand what our end of life will look like or the end of life for our parents will look like. And it's really traumatizing. It's very hard, it's difficult, it's emotional. I mean, you know, even though I've worked in this field for my, pretty much my entire adult life, you know, we're all also experiencing it ourselves with our loved ones as well."

"This really amazing person answers all of our calls. Our home care supervisors are happy to come out, and we do phone screenings, and phone assessments for our clients. We can go to the home and provide a home visit. But most of the work we do, honestly, is in this space when we have an informal caregiver, and it's usually a son or a daughter, who is reaching a point in delivering care to their loved one that they just can't manage it independently any longer."

Learn more:
* Fedelta: https://fedeltahomecare.com/

Hear more:
* Podcasts celebrating caregivers: https://answersforelders.com/category/saluting-caregivers/

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