Every day, millions of people provide essential care and assistance to loved ones and friends – acts of love, commitment, and compassion that enable the person being cared for to receive the support they need to live a dignified life. The people providing this care are known as caregivers. They tend to the needs or concerns of a person with short or long-term limitation due to illness, injury, or disability. Caregivers are tasked with the physical care and emotional support of someone who can no longer care for themselves. Caregiving is a tough job.
Gillian Curry-Williams did not ask to be a caregiver. She fell into the role by default after her aunt Bessie Ellen Moss got sick and she traveled with her to the United States to seek medical attention. Her aunt had to have surgery; Curry-Williams was the only relative with her. She immediately assumed the role of caregiver for the duration of their stay. When they returned home to The Bahamas, Curry-Williams continued in that vein, taking her aunt where she needed to go and researching best practices for her aunt going forward, including what she could and could not eat.
She did it all without even knowing what the word “caregiver” meant.
Since then, Curry-Williams has been caregiver to her father Donald Curry, and most recently, a friend, Samantha Rahming.
Moss, Curry and Rahming, who are all deceased, battled cancer.
And she is continuing in the role of caregiver to a teenager – Rahming’s son, Lavardo Smith.
As Caregivers Month is celebrated during the month of November, in countries that recognize the month, it offers an opportunity to raise awareness of caregiving issues, educate communities, and increase support for caregivers.
While it is not a month on the calendar in The Bahamas, Curry-Williams’ dream is the formation of a caregiver’s network through which awareness can be raised of caregivers and those who wish to become caregivers.
“I did the research, and could find all sorts of things where they have a month of celebration in different countries and a day for the caregivers, and in The Bahamas, we had nothing. I want to raise awareness of caregivers and those who wish to become caregivers,” she said.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis issued Curry-Williams with a proclamation for the observance of National Caregivers Day on November 24, and the month of November in 2021 as Caregivers Month throughout The Bahamas to encourage citizens to participate in the activities of the caregiver’s network.
“I want to see people appreciate the caregiver more because they are important – and the caregiver role can be taxing because sometimes, you are the only person,” said Curry-Williams.
She holds to heart the words of Rosalyn Carter, former First Lady of the United States: “There are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers. Caregiving is universal.”
“We all, at some point, will be a caregiver, or need a caregiver,” said Curry-Williams.
Over the years, she also came to the realization that the caregiver is the most important person in the life of a person with short or long-term limitations, whether due to illness, injury or disability, because the person being cared for can’t do things for themselves.
As she fell into the role of caregiver, she also realized that it was not important for her to have a medical background but to rather understand the illness of the person she was caring for – and deal with it.
Seeking to empower herself, to ensure that she was the best caregiver she could be, and that she could provide the best care, Curry-Williams took a free online diploma course in caregiving at the Alison Online Learning, one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for education and skills training. It is a for-profit social enterprise dedicated to making it possible for anyone to study anything, anywhere, at any time, for free online, at any subject level.
“I decided to take the course because I needed to do more,” said Curry-Williams.
The free online caregiver course focuses on the basic legal and ethical issues of providing care and helps the caregiver develop the skills for becoming an effective caregiver. Courses are offered in elderly care and caring for the disabled; dementia care; safeguarding vulnerable adults; diploma in caregiving; health and safety for caregiving; and caregiver support services training – preventing the spread of infection.
Curry-Williams also wants people to recognize that caregivers need love, too, because it can be exhausting. And that they should be appreciated more because they oftentimes are the only person bearing the burden, even when there’s a large family.
“If you have a friend who is a caregiver and you can give two hours to give them a break from their caregiving duties, give them the opportunity to take break,” said Curry-Williams. She acknowledges that a persons’ family members should do it but she said oftentimes, they don’t.
Curry-Williams has also shared her experiences as a caregiver in her book, “Beyond Diagnosis: A Caregiver’s Journey”, which was released in July.
In the book, she takes the reader through her trials and tribulations. And she has said that no one can fully capture nor describe what patients go through, especially when they suffer long-term illnesses. But she said at some point, the narrative has to change of care beyond diagnosis and treatment, and that since there is no definitive method for caring for loved ones during such times, that a person’s love has to be the biggest potential to transform their lives.
Curry-Williams said her book is her personal attempt to go beyond the diagnosis and share her journey as a caregiver and an effort to change the perspective of caregiving.
Her book also includes the views of people who suffered from debilitating illnesses to ensure that people understand that beyond the diagnosis, are human beings, capable of, and in need of, being loved and treated with the dignity and respect that everyone deserves.
She said she penned the book with the hopes that people reading it take away the fact that not everyone is called to be a caregiver and that they can take solace in that, and not beat themselves up when they find they can’t step into the role, which she said is definitely not an easy one.
“Everyone is not called to be a caregiver, and if it doesn’t feel right, don’t try to force being a caregiver,” said Curry-Williams. “Everybody’s role is different.”
Curry-Williams has also said that a person does not become a caregiver overnight, and that there are certain qualities that a caregiver must possess, or at least develop.
The qualities that worked for her, she said, included patience, flexibility, passion, and the ability to be attentive as the patient’s needs came first. Other qualities that she said should come into play include the ability to communicate, be creative and innovative, supportive and encouraging, honest and trustworthy, and having a sense of humor. While she said her list worked for her, she said others may need to add additional qualities to their list, according to their experience.
She has said as she looked back at the role she played as caregiver for her aunt, her dad, and her friend, that each was a different experience. But she said she felt the caregiving role she played for her aunt encompassed the experiences of the other two.
And as a caregiver, Curry-Williams said she puts her all and all on the table.
Caregiver awareness and appreciation is represented by the color purple.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/appreciating-caregivers/
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