Caring for You, Caring for Me

Book excerpt: Caring for persons with chronic illnesses or disabilities is a rewarding endeavor, but it often places extreme demands on those providing care. Caregivers need both education and support to understand their caregiving roles and to cope with the difficult situations they face. All too often there is a chasm between professionals who are part of the formal caregiving system and family members, friends, and neighbors who provide daily care. The Caring for You, Caring for Me education and support program is a valuable tool for use in providing caregivers with education and support. The program is designed to bring formal (professional) and informal (lay/family) caregivers together to gain a better understanding of each other's perspectives on what it means to be a caregiver, with the hope that in the process both will learn to do it better. The program is based on caregiving research and the expertise of frontline caregivers. The Leader's Guide contains everything needed to conduct a ten-hour education and support program for caregivers: informational content, layouts for overhead transparencies, and suggested group activities. The companion Participant's Manual supports the presentation, providing a workbook for class activities, a suggested reading list, and a compendium of national sources of help for caregivers. Caring for You, Caring for Me was developed by the Rosalynn Carter Institute under the guidance of the West Central Georgia Caregivers' Network (CARE-NET). The Rosalynn Carter Institute was established in 1987. Its mission is to understand the process of caregiving and discover new ways to benefit both formal and informal caregivers. The Institute supports the premise that caregivers and care receivers can be served most effectively through the collaborative efforts of formal and informal caregivers, academicians, public and private services, and organizations representing caregivers and recipients of care.