[ Logo Music ] [ Theme Music ] [Narrato Caregiving responsibilities have a dramatic negative economic impact on caregivers due to lost wages. They also tend to be in poorer health due to stress, ignoring their own health problems or delaying seeking medical care. The greatest challenge for caregivers is taking care of and time for, themselves. Caregivers who are employed, are at greater risk for burnout because of demands at both work and home. Burnout takes place, over time, and symptoms includ 49Feelings of depression. A sense of ongoing and constant fatigue. Decreasing interest in work. Decrease in work production. Withdrawal from social contacts. Increased use of stimulants and alcohol. Increasing fear of death. Change in eating patterns, and Feelings of helplessness. [ Musi [Narrato Carol cares for her mother, who has multiple health problems. She works full-time for a non-profit agency that allows her flexibility, but her mother is still ever-present in her mind. [Carol Amo Taking care of my mom affects me in the ways of sleeping at night. I'm constantly wondering if she's ok or wondering if she needs anything or whether she might be up late. And, it's just trying to get my day schedule in order, you know, the things that I have to do, some of the appointments that I might have in a day's time and also making sure that her medication was properly given to her. [Jean Mulle So what I'm going to do next is demonstrate to you how to help somebody turn and sit up at the side of the bed. [Narrato Jean is a registered nurse who works for a social services agency and teaches practical skills for family caregivers. She was able to take a leave of absence from her job to care for her critically-ill husband on a 24-hour basis. [Jean Muelle Physically, I lost my appetite. Food had absolutely no appeal to me. I lost 15 pounds. I couldn't sleep at night. I use the term, I was sleeping with one eye open. The telephone; my landline telephone and my cell phone were in bed next to me at all times, because I was terrified of missing a call. I could not focus on things outside of what I needed to do in that very moment. I couldn't make plans. I couldn't focus on my job. I couldn't focus on what needed to be done within the house. Mail would come and I couldn't deal with, do I read this, do I throw it away? Everything became monumental and almost too much because my energy and my focus was on my husband. [Narrato Pam organizes a variety of activities for African American older adults including support groups. She cares for her mother who has diabetes and other health problems. [Pam Brace And at a point where it was more stressful and unbalanced, it was when my mother was going through her chemotherapy. And that was a lot of evening work, you know, being with her during the day. And so my job would be making calls in the evenings and long nights and computer at home. Sometimes when I went to work very tired and just, the balance of home and I had to stay focused on my kids. They were in school and we had to get up early for the buses and that type of thing. There were times when it was a long 24 hour day, very long. At that when it was more stressful, it didn't affect my work, but it did affect my health. I do have diabetes and stress puts up your sugars, so I had a lot of high sugar days. But, illness did come more. [ Music ]