Caregiving – Making Sure Caregivers Take Care of Themselves

SUMMARY
As a contractor for Medicare, Kepro serves as the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization, also referred to as a BFCC-QIO. While Kepro provides BFCC-QIO services in 29 states, the general information is relevant to everyone who has Medicare (including Medicare Advantage) and everyone who works with people who have Medicare. 

This episode is a conversation with our guest, Talena Ford, Programs Supervisor at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Talena Ford has built a career in nonprofit work, helping people access support and resources. She holds a Master's degree in Administrative Leadership from the University of Oklahoma and serves as a Programs Supervisor at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. In this role, she manages grants that provide support for individuals with special needs and their family caregivers, focusing on home and community-based resources. Talena is committed to finding innovative ways to support family caregivers in Oklahoma. In this podcast, Ms. Ford will share information about caregiving. She will share information on caregiving resources, respite, and ways to improve as a caregiver.

For more information about Kepro BFCC-QIO, please visit www.keproqio.com.

KEY TOPICS

00:29: Overview, introduction of guest, Talena Ford
 03:13: Information about caregiving resources
 05:00: What is respite?
 08:47: Ways to improve as a caregiver
 13:23: Final thoughts

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RESOURCES

BFCC-QIO Information for stakeholders: www.keproqio.com/partners
BFCC-QIO Information for people who have Medicare: www.keproqio.com/bene
Oklahoma caregiving information: https://okcares.org
AAA information: https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/About/Aging_Network/AAA.aspx

 Music: Motivational Upbeat Corporate by RinkevichMusic
https://soundcloud.com/rinkevichmusic
Video Link: https://youtu.be/U78mgVaM12M

Transcript

Caregiving – Making sure caregivers take care of themselves

Welcome to Aging Health Matters, a podcast from Kepro, a Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization. We plan to cover healthcare topics for the Medicare population. Information in today’s show may help you or someone you know in their healthcare journey.  Thanks for joining us. Now let’s get started.

Nancy Jobe   

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of our podcast, Aging Health Matters. This is Nancy Jobe, Outreach Specialist, here to introduce today's topic – how to make sure caregivers take care of themselves. As a reminder, we are the QIO for 29 states. We have three key services for people who have Medicare: discharge appeals, quality of care complaints, and Immediate Advocacy services. More information on these topics is available on our website at www.keproqio.com. We also work with many outstanding partners to help spread information about the Medicare program and its benefits. And while we greatly appreciate their partnerships, we also want to be clear that the opinions and guidance expressed by them in this podcast are solely theirs or their agencies and are not necessarily those of the QIO, CMS, or the Medicare program. Please keep in mind that state-by-state guidance may differ as well. Today we’ll be talking with our guest, Talena Ford, from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Thank you Talena for being a part of our podcast today. And could you just give us a little background information about yourself?

 Talena Ford   
 Well, thank you, Nancy. I'm glad to be here. I personally dedicated my career to the non-profit sector, where my mission has been to help individuals access essential supports and resources during challenging times of their life. And now I'm here in this role serving caregivers, and it's been such a good one. I currently hold the position of Program Supervisor at the Community Living, Aging, and Protective Services Department within the Oklahoma Human Services Agency. I have the privilege of overseeing several state-funded grants, and these grants are specifically designed to provide crucial support and resources to individuals with special needs and their family caregivers, and we focus on the life span.

So even though I think a lot of people tend to think of caregivers as being aging, we focus on those that are siblings, caring for a sibling, and the parents that are unable to. We focus on parents who have children that have special needs and especially those within the aging population. These grants, you know, they focus to promote home and community-based services, allowing these individuals to live in their preferred environments as long as they can. Why I'm so passionate about that is because it impacts everybody due to it being cost effective and making sure that our tax dollars are being put to good use and supporting caregivers instead of just placement into institutionalization.

 Nancy Jobe   
 I kind of understand caregiving a little bit because myself, I am a caregiver for my 90- year-old parents. A lot of people I think sometimes feel that caregiving is just about maybe caring for someone that's totally disabled and needing somebody 24 hours. But caregiving takes many roles, to just be the person that's going over there and helping them with their bathing or helping them with, in my case, I just help with every little thing. I go over. My mother has a list. Could you help me with this, this, and this? So I think people need to understand caregiving does include so many different family members as well as outside people that are caregivers. So hopefully today we can shed a little bit more light on that and how we can actually help the caregiver because I know I get stressed. So I'm sure a lot of caregivers do get stressed out there taking care of someone. My question is now you're in Oklahoma, do most of the states have these different grants?

 Talena Ford   
 Yes, every state is different. Every state has the opportunity to apply for these life span respite grants. They are not currently in all 50 states. But when I'm talking to people that are outside of Oklahoma, I generally tell them that their first stop should be their Area Agency on Aging and find out who is supporting that Title 3 funding.
 Because even though the life span grant that I run covers the entire life span, we don't supplant, meaning that we don't pay where another program can pay. So if we're talking about someone that's a grandparent raising a grandchild that's 55 or older, they would fall under the Older Americans Act. But if they're 54 and they go to their Area Agency on Aging, then that agency would then forward them on to another program that would be more suitable for them and be able to serve in that respite resource role.

 Nancy Jobe   
 Can you explain to everyone what respite is?

Talena Ford   
 So respite is an interesting topic. I mean, it's generally a caregiver getting a break, but people struggle with identifying what that really means. And when you think of a parent who may have a child with a disability and respite, it may be simply having a voucher. Because what we use is vouchers. Having a voucher to pay for that child to attend baseball, and while that child is going to practice every week and the rest of the voucher has paid for those fees and things, that parent or that guardian or loved one, that caregiver, can go and even just sit in the stands and scroll on their phone, something they may not be able to do while that child is in front of them.
 Or if depending on you know the rules. I have a child that has autism, and he played baseball. His coach was absolutely fine. And I trusted his coach that I would be able to walk away and just go sit in my car or do whatever I needed to do to make sure that when I came back that I was a better caregiver, a better parent for that child. And that's what respite is, just making sure that you are doing something to care for yourself, to fill your glass, so that when you come back, you can serve in your role as a caregiver better.

 Nancy Jobe   
 Do they have a respite program, in my case, I'm caring for elderly parents?

 Talena Ford   
 Yes. So adult day is an awesome option, and we've got an adult day here that actually has a childcare center in it, and the adult day participants actually interact with the children. It's a great program, and the vouchers do cover it. In addition to that, there are other options.
 
You could hire your neighbor to come in and care for your parents while you went and got your hair done or went and played bingo. You know, whatever
 again, respite looks like for you. During COVID, we changed some of our policies to where there were not income restrictions. We even changed one of our policies under the life span respite grant that if we had more than one caregiver in the home.
 So let's say you and another person were caring for your parents full time.
 You could choose today that you were going to have respite and use that voucher to pay for that other person, that other caregiver in the home, to care solely for your parents, and that way because COVID, it was so new and unique, and we just didn't have a lot of understanding. We weren't bringing people in. So what we saw is there was so much isolation happening and depression, and so we had to find a way that they felt comfortable leaving their loved one and getting at least somebody at a moment in time getting the respite that they so needed.

 Nancy Jobe   
 So you mentioned income-based.

 Talena Ford   
 Yes. So that's the income based on the caregiver, that's the majority of the programs that I have. Because who we are providing services to is the caregiver.

 Nancy Jobe   
 So if someone was listening to the podcast and they are a caregiver just like myself and didn't even know that they could get some respite care, they would contact the AAA service in their area, is that correct?

 Talena Ford   
 That would be the best start. Just because they're so nationally connected, and they're aware of those programs because one of their vital programs is to make sure that they do referrals and resources. And so they have the most up-to-date resources and referrals when it comes to someone that may be ineligible for their program due to age or other circumstances.

 Nancy Jobe   
 So when I say AAA, I'm not talking about the auto club, I'm talking about the Area Agency on Aging.

 Talena Ford   
 Yes.

 Nancy Jobe   
 That is some terrific information as far as that goes. You taught me something myself today. And that's what these podcasts are for is to try and put some information out there for everyone.

 Talena Ford   
 Great.

Nancy Jobe   
 So as a caregiver, what are some things that they could do to become maybe a better caregiver or things that might be able to help them or even encourage someone? Maybe they're interested in helping take care of someone? Is there an agency that maybe they could even just volunteer to caregive or something like that?

 Talena Ford   
 That's a great question. We all have an influence when it comes to supporting caregivers. We can all take tangible, real steps. They're truly unsung heroes, and a lot of times, they're quiet, unsung heroes and don't ask for a lot. Actions that we could all take include raising awareness, you know, talking to people about the caregiver state in your area and the importance of providing those resources and opportunities for respite to them. Another thing that I focus a lot on is self-care, and we must encourage our caregivers to prioritize their own health, due to the fact that if they don't and they become ill, who's going to care for that person? I told you about my son, and I can remember a time that I had actually broken my shoulder, and I didn't know it was broke. It hurt. But I waited to go to the doctor, but my son could walk up to me with a sniffly nose, and we would be in urgent care within the hour. And so a lot of good if something, you know, if my son had had something else happen to him and I couldn't pick him up because my shoulder was broke, and I had put it off because I didn't feel I was important enough to take care of, which ultimately affects everybody that you're involved with. And so getting those regular checkups, even getting training on health care on those things that will make you a better caregiver, if you can find training that will make caregiving easier or just give you more knowledge on how to serve your care receiver longer.
 
And then support groups. I mean support groups in your area. A lot of people, when you talk about support groups, they immediately go to like substance abuse support groups and what they've seen on TV. And they're like, I don't think I would feel comfortable, but I ran several support groups and sitting in those, and I walked out every day. I may have grunted and hem hawed about actually doing the support group because it was always late in the evening, during the middle of dinner time, but as soon as I walked in the door, the joy that the caregivers found by community was life-changing. And I walked out feeling better. And I wasn't a participant. I was a facilitator. I wasn't there to get support, and I walked out feeling better than I did the entire day, and I had to remind myself of that several times, so that I would get up and go. But definitely training and resources.
 
And then, you know, community services that are geared towards those caregivers.
 We have a caregiver conference that we put on every year, and our goal is to get resources and information out to everybody along with the coalition and a website,
 okcares.org, where we provide a list of respite resources. We provide a list of those that provide respite and then community-based organizations that say, hey, we're here to help caregivers and then people are able to go to one place centrally located in the state of Oklahoma that serves the state, and we're really proud of that.

 Nancy Jobe   
 That's some interesting information Telena. I hadn't really thought of a support group, but I could see why that would be very beneficial for a caregiver because nobody wants to talk about oh, you know, I'm taking care of my parents, and then people think you're a bad person because you take care of your parents, and you're frustrated. But yet a caregiver support group, they understand; they know what you're going through.
 
So you could feel open enough and maybe get a suggestion of how to feel better about something that's going on. So that's definitely a very good resource for a  caregiver I'm sure. So first stop may be the Area Agency on Aging and find the one that's closest to you because they are usually by counties, so the county in your state, and then see what caregiving resources are out there for you. And maybe they don't have anyone to care for anymore, so there's a great outlet for them to be able to do that as well. So the information you've given us Telena has been really helpful today. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us?

 Talena Ford   
 I appreciate you having me. It's been my honor to share my experiences about caregiving, and caregivers play such a pivotal role in ensuring the well-being of their loved ones, and it's crucial that we recognize their dedication and their support, and we support them on their caregiving journey. And so each of us can make a difference. And so if you want to make a difference, please reach out, like you said Nancy, to the AAAs. There's opportunity to serve. And if it's not serving that you want to do, and you need assistance, then you should be calling us today, now. But thank you again for this opportunity.

 Nancy Jobe   
 Telena is from the state of Oklahoma. So I want you all to check with your particular state’s AAA office to find out what kind of caregiving programs are available to you. I'm sure they're very similar to the ones that she has talked about here today. 

 So if you would like more information about our services, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter as well as subscribe to the YouTube channel. Our Helpline phone number as well as a link to sign up for our newsletter on our website will be available in the show notes. Thank you again Telena for being our guest today to talk about caregiving and we want to thank you for taking this time for sharing all that information with us. Thank you for listening everyone. Please stay tuned for our next episode of Aging Health Matters.