{"id":1327,"date":"2015-11-24T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/?p=1327"},"modified":"2015-11-24T10:46:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T18:46:52","slug":"happy-national-family-caregivers-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/happy-national-family-caregivers-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy National Family Caregivers Month!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that November is National Family Caregivers Month<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Did you know that there are over 40 million<\/strong> U.S. caregivers who provide an estimated $470 billion of unpaid service<\/strong> annually?<\/p>\n

Fortunately, this month the Family Caregiver Alliance<\/a> initiated a really neat campaign to honor these millions of caregivers.<\/p>\n

\"picture<\/a>Join them in their campaign “I am a Caregiver for my __________ ” and let’s put a face on caregiving!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI am a Caregiver for my ______.\u201d
\nis a social media initiative of Family Caregiver Alliance.<\/p>\n

Many who are now using social media (Facebook and Twitter) have seen the UnSelfie trend associated with the recent annual #GivingTuesday response to the post-Thanksgiving consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday is an opportunity to support the causes and organizations you value\u2014it’s an opportunity to give back.<\/p>\n

#GivingTuesday is on December 1, 2015.<\/p>\n

Family Caregiver Alliance thought about how they could use the UnSelfie trend this year, and then they developed it into a more long-lasting caregiver campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a Caregiver for my ______.\u201d is an opportunity to bring further awareness to the 40 million+ U.S. caregivers who provide an estimated $470 billion of unpaid service annually.<\/p>\n

Will you join the campaign?<\/p>\n

Here are the four easy steps:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Download and print the 8.5″x11″ sign in English<\/a> or Spanish<\/a> (M) or Spanish<\/a> (F) \u2192<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Be sure to fill in the blank space (use a large pen) identifying who it is you are a caregiver for: your spouse, your father, your best friend …<\/p>\n

3. Take your photo using your phone or digital camera<\/p>\n

4. Share! Email your picture to fca@caregiver.org and we will share your picture on our social media sites OR<\/p>\n

Facebook: Post your picture to your page and then Share it with Family Caregiver Alliance on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Twitter: Post your picture to your page and add FCA’s Twitter handle @CaregiverAlly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don’t forget to use this hashtag with your post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

#IAmACaregiverForMy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Caregiver Action Network, http:\/\/caregiveraction.org\/<\/a>, is also celebrating this November and offers these top 10 Tips for Family Caregivers:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Seek support<\/a> from other caregivers.\u00a0 You are not alone!
\n2. Take care of your own health<\/a> so that you can be strong enough to take care of your loved one.
\n3. Accept offers of help<\/a> and suggest specific things people can do to help you.
\n4. Learn how to communicate effectively<\/a> with doctors.
\n5. Caregiving is hard work so take respite breaks<\/a> often.
\n6. Watch out for signs of depression<\/a> and don’t delay in getting professional help when you need it.
\n7. Be open to new technologies<\/a> that can help you care for your loved one.
\n8. Organize medical<\/a> information so it’s up to date and easy to find.
\n9. Make sure legal documents<\/a> are in order.
\n10. Give yourself credit for doing the best you can in one of the toughest jobs there is!<\/p>\n

Furthermore, contact your local Independent Living Center and talk to an AT Advocate <\/a>there.\u00a0 There might be assistive technology (AT) that might be able to help you be a better caregiver and let your family member be more independent!\u00a0 If you are in California, check out our AT exchange<\/a> and find free AT – like durable medical equipment – or borrow some high-tech AT for free for 30 days!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you know that November is National Family Caregivers Month? Did you know that there are over 40 million U.S. caregivers who provide an estimated $470 billion of unpaid service annually? Fortunately, this month the Family Caregiver Alliance initiated a really neat campaign to honor these millions of caregivers. Join them in their campaign “I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[9,2,7,78,77,15],"class_list":["post-1327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caregiver","tag-advocacy","tag-at-network","tag-at-professional","tag-caregiver","tag-recreation","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1327"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1337,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327\/revisions\/1337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}