Introduction to Helping Your Loved One Be Happy

Overview

Hi, I’m Elizabeth Swider, your host and educator. Welcome to our course “Helping Your Loved One Be Happy.”

If you want to learn a little more about me, watch the separate short video called “About Elizabeth Swider, Your Educator,” Which I will include below.

In this introduction I’ll give you a quick summary of the content of this course, I’ll explain where this course fits in to your long distance caregiving journey and into our overall course catalog, and I’ll explain the course format.

About Your Educator

If you’d like to more about me, Elizabeth Swider, see the video below.

This course

In this course we will explore why your loved one might be experiencing – and sharing! – these negative emotions, and what you can do to help.

We’ll discuss medical issues, lifestyle challenges, and psychological factors, and I’ll give you suggestions on what you can do to assist in each of those realms. I’ve also provided a worksheet so you can apply the information in this course to your loved one’s situation.

I’m a care manager, not a doctor or psychologist. This course will get your started in identifying possible causes for your loved one’s emotional challenges, but contact your loved one’s licensed providers for diagnosis and treatment.

How This Course Fits in

This course goes hand in hand with our courses on the basics of long distance caregiving. I highly recommend you take those courses as well. I have provided links in the Lesson Materials for this lesson so you can register for them. I’ll discuss the Lesson Materials in more detail in the Course Format section.

Our course “Finding Common Ground: How to Gain Agreement on Eldercare Decisions Even if You Have Failed in the Past,” will help you prevent or settle disputes with your loved one or others in the care process. I recommend taking it before or along with this course, because it will change the way you see your role as a long distance caregiver and therefore influence the choices you make. After taking that course you may find care options that are less expensive and easier for everyone to agree on than any you have even thought about so far.

Our Course: “How to Create a Care Plan that Works for Your Whole Family” will show you how to create a care plan for your loved one by walking you through the assessment process and will help you find effective solutions to each of the issues you uncover. When you finish that short course, you will have a written care plan, agreed to by your loved one and your local caregivers, that you can put into action. If you don’t already have a care plan for your loved one or if you have one but want to validate it, improve it or update it, I recommend taking that course.

Our Course: “The Pro Guide to Becoming a Successful Long Distance Caregiver” I will show you how to obtain the permission and access you need to perform your role effectively, how to build a care team, how to pay for care. I will show you how to make the most out of visits to see your loved one, and how you or local caregivers can get the most out of your loved ones’ doctor’s appointments. I will help you become prepared for a medical emergency, learn how to recognize and prevent fraud and abuse, and know when your loved one needs additional help.

By taking that course you will earn the confidence to lead your loved one’s care and be proud of the support you provide to the entire care team. No more need to feel guilty, frustrated, or regretful.

In addition to these basic courses, we have a library of other courses explaining how to implement individual care options. I’ll put a link to the Course Library in the Lesson Materials.

If you would like to discuss your individual situation with one of our geriatric care managers, you can purchase a private coaching session from us. And if you would like to be part of a community of long distance caregivers, join our Facebook Group: Caregiving Long Distance. 

Again, links to all these are included in the Lesson Materials. 

Course Format

In the first section of the course, we’ll review the Top Ten Safety Checklist and the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s advice for how to prepare for a home emergency.

In the second section, we’ll go through each room category one by one. I’ve divided these up into separate lessons so you can do them one at a time or so you can assign them to various members of your care team. You won’t need videos for those lessons – just follow the Guide.

In the third section, we’ll review advice from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about how to choose a contractor and how to avoid home improvement scams. We’ll also talk about your next steps after you complete this course.

You can download the entire Home Safety Guide from the Lesson Materials tab for each lesson, or you can download just the part of the Guide that is addressed in that lesson. The Lesson Materials are is explained in video form below, and in video and written form at this page and on the Lesson Materials tab. Note that in this course there will be only PDF formatted course materials – no Google Docs formatted item.

That’s all you need to know!

Let’s get started – click the link on the next lesson.