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FEATUR E THE LOOP OF CO MPASSION - CARING FOR OUR CAREGIVERS
The Loop of Compassion - Caring
for Our Caregivers
In this instalment of our Caregivers Series, we pause to consider the
importance of encouraging our caregivers and what care we can give to
them. Dr Seamus Phan offers advise on how we can care for those to
whom caring is a way of life.
hile we constantly hold the
plight of our beneficiaries dear to
our hearts, and think of how best we
can serve and care for them, have we
thought the same for our caregivers?
The world is a closed loop, where the
actions of a person affects another, and
another, and eventually, comes back
either to reward, or to haunt this
person, depending on whether the
actions were kind or evil. In an ever-
shrinking world where we are easily
connected by the technology of the
Internet, Voice-over-IP telephony, and
supersonic air travel, it has become
much easier to develop friendships, or
to create enemies. After all, the relay of
communication today is defined in
seconds, not days or months. We are
more accountable for our actions,
since people can easily find out and
communicate our actions to others. If
we treat people nicely, it is far more
likely people will reciprocate with the
same. Conversely, if we treat people
badly, we can only expect disdain
from others.
Therefore, while we sincerely hope
that our caregivers relentlessly care
and embrace our beneficiaries, who
truly need our attention and care, we
also need to replenish and recharge
the inner energy of our caregivers, so
that they can continue to take care of
the beneficiaries.
How can we do that?
Lending a listening ear
Caregivers are much like everyone else,
and need to be listened to, more than
they need to listen, especially after their
already long draining work hours.
When they take care of the needy, they
can become emotionally drained,
especially since they have to embrace
the emotive difficulties, as well as the
physical challenges of the beneficiaries.
Often, it demand a superhuman inner
strength to take care of the beneficiaries
day in and day out without fail, and
Wwith the same professional and
compassionate consistency.
We can help, as executives, media, or
even as public citizens, by becoming an
ad hoc social support group for our
caregivers. Whenever they need to
unburden themselves emotionally by
letting go verbally, even at length, lend
them our strong shoulders, listen
wholeheartedly, and lend them our
firmest grip. Sometimes, in a rather
pressurizing society which places
material demands on people, it can be
difficult to continue as a caregiver when
sometimes, even close family members
may not empathize with the caregiver�s
chosen calling. This is when we, as
executives, the media, or the public, can
herald the caregivers� efforts, and
become their support group.
Giving practical help
Above that of emotive support, we can
offer real practical help to our caregivers.
For example, it is very likely that
caregivers may have to spend a lot of
time at work, and may not have time
to bank in their checks, buy necessities,
or even to eat their meals regularly. We
can offer to run these little errands on
their behalf, and gently nudge them to
eat their meals, or buy the meals for
them. If we are close to our caregivers,
we may even offer to clean their homes
now and then. If we are able, we can
even offer to tend to our beneficiaries
momentarily while our caregivers take
a short lunch break, or get 10 minutes
of rest to recharge.
Whenever a major exercise is completed,
such as a public event, we can write
appreciative thank-you notes to our
caregivers individually. Put our hearts
into the writing of such notes with our
true genuine feelings. It would mean a
great deal to our tireless caregivers.
Let them rest
We need to be empathetic and sensitive
to our caregivers on a daily basis,
especially as colleagues and managers.
If we sense that a particular caregiver
is near cracking point, offer to have
another person relief the caregiver
temporarily for a couple of hours or
more as we see fit. Emotional burdens
can be compounded and spread to
others, and it would be unwise to
allow a drained caregiver to unload his
or her emotional burden
unintentionally to beneficiaries.
In such scenarios, we can offer to allow
our tired caregivers hours off work to
rest at home, or if it is at all possible,
offer them anti-stress sessions of yoga,
massage, or reflexology, especially if we
can garner public support through
sponsorships from such therapeutic
facilities. Otherwise, it may even be
possible to provide basic massage or
yoga training to all our colleagues, and
we can then become �caregivers� for
each other at work.
In instances when caregivers fall sick,
it is important that we insist that they
stay home and rest adequately. After
all, modern medicine can only do so
much for the majority of seasonal
contagious diseases, and rest is
ultimately the best medicine.
Completing the loop of compassion
While we imagine our caregivers to
relentlessly provide care for our
beneficiaries, it is so important to also
know they are as mortal as we are, and
require the same love and care from all
of us. It is only when we complete the
loop of compassion by providing care
to our caregivers, will our caregivers
be able to perpetuate the love and care
to our beneficiaries tirelessly.
ExtraPage agrees with Dr Phan that
caregivers need to be supported too.
In the next article, Head Social
Worker, Lim Lutin shares how SPD
supports caregivers.