Your Proactive Caregiver Advocate: Dr. Cynthia Speaks!
Celebrating National Caregiver Appreciation Day- February 18, 2022
Did you know that National Caregivers Day is celebrated on the third Friday in February? A day that we all should stop and say thank you to caregivers wherever they may be. The role of a caregiver, formal or informal, demands our genuine appreciation for the service they provide to our loved ones and friends. While others may suggest that the role is ordinary, I have news you can use as a caregiver for twenty years.
Our days and nights run together, staying on top of the mountainous responsibility. We are multitaskers, sometimes to our own demise. We are thinkers on our feet with eyes in the back of our heads. We are the safety police to ensure medication errors, falls, and setbacks do not occur. If care is rendered in the home, we sleep with one eye open and one closed. We make appointments and ensure they are kept. We are the transportation supplier and the grocery store bargain hunter. We juggle the physical and mental elements of the caregiving role, and we get up and do it all again, selflessly.
I have often said about care recipients that if they could, they would!
Whatever corner caregiving is provided, the engagement is the same… to help others who cannot help themselves. The countless hours that align with the care of others demand our honor and respect. Some are not paid for their acts of kindness, so a thank you can go a long way. Whenever there is a chance to show appreciation for the selfish act of a caregiver, we should. While we can never fully compensate for caregivers' essential services, acts of kindness and genuine gratitude will go a long way. As Your Proactive Caregiver Advocate, I ask you to show your appreciation in some small way with a gift, or a sincere “thank you.”
