September 29, 2003
Feeling Sandwiched?
Twenty-four Million Americans Are Caught In The Generation Sandwich: Caring for an elderly relative while raising kids at the same time.
Moline, IL - Maybe Mom has an increasingly hard time with the stairs, dad shouldn't be driving anymore, or their house has started to deteriorate a bit. Their offspring want to help out more, but they've got about all they can handle juggling the demands of career and kids. They're part of the Sandwich Generation - feeling squeezed between the demands of their children and the responsibility they feel to assist their parents.
To help, the Genesis Health System will present a program on Thursday, October 9, at 6:30 p.m., at SouthPark Mall, in the GAP Court, 4500 16th Street, Moline. Sally Hogue, provider relations coordinator of Genesis Visiting Nurse Association, will give tips on how adult children can provide assistance for their aging parents without having to sacrifice their own lives.
"Overall, it's really about managing the stress of caregiving," says Hogue. "One goal is to learn how to cope with the demands of children and parents, as well as balancing one's personal life - without guilt. Caregivers often forget themselves in the process. When they do tend to themselves, they feel guilty."
"Taking care of you isn't a luxury or being selfish," she adds. "It's a necessity. If you don't care for yourself, you won't be able to maintain the emotional and physical strength required to care for someone else."
To help, Mary Hill-Sutherland, a counselor and manger of the Genesis Employee Assistance Program, recommends making time for regular exercise, relaxation activities, a healthy diet, sleep and regular medical and dental checkups. Also take small sabbaticals at least once a week and arrange to give yourself a few hours off. Utilize community resources and remember to accept help when it is offered.
Contributing to the problems is that families are more dispersed than they once were, and couples are waiting longer to have children. That means that when this generation's children are teenagers, their grandparents may be well into their 70s and 80s - an age when they need more help themselves. "What really exacerbates this is that often young people are -- because of proximity -- orchestrating the care long-distance," Hill-Sutherland says. "We're a more mobile society, but the demands have not decreased."
For more information about resources available, call the Genesis Visiting Nurse Association at 563-421-5500 or the Genesis Employee Assistance Program at 563-386-4004 or visit the Genesis Health System Web site, www.genesishealth.com.
