Case Managers Help Caregivers Overcome Challenges
Learn how Case Managers can support caregivers.
Family members, friends, and neighbors caring for people experiencing illness or disabilities face numerous challenges. Being a caregiver can be physically demanding work, and stress can take a toll on their mental health. It can be a financial hardship if the caregiver has to take time off from work. Dealing with those and other difficulties often causes caregiver burnout.
“Seeing your loved one struggle and go through challenging times and putting all your energy into getting them better, your own needs are definitely not put at the forefront anymore,” says Jennie Zea, a registered nurse case manager at Blue Cross VT. “Your mental health, emotional health, and physical health can all suffer.”
“They're doing it alone a lot of the times and it causes a sense of feeling isolated and loneliness,” says Christa Littleton, a Blue Cross VT clinical case manager. Coordinating transportation, medical appointments, grocery shopping, and other needs can contribute to caregiver fatigue that results in burnout, she says.
Linking Caregivers to Resources
Blue Cross VT case managers counsel caregivers on ways to prevent burnout and help overcome challenges by connecting them to community resources like respite care.
Respite care is when someone else temporarily assumes caregiving duties, allowing the primary caregiver to take time off. Several Vermont organizations offer respite care, but caregivers may not know about it. “A lot of caregivers don't realize that there are respite services available to give them a break, or if they need to go to appointments or take a vacation,” says Littleton. Blue Cross VT case managers help caregivers understand the importance of respite care and how to access it in their communities.
Other areas where Blue Cross VT case managers can help include:
- finding local support groups
- arranging for mental health care
- accessing end-of-life care
Transportation to appointments can be especially difficult for caregivers, Zea says. “If it's an injury where the person they’re caring for is in a wheelchair, that can be a huge challenge, getting them in and out of the wheelchair or into a vehicle.”
In rural areas of Vermont, the lack of public transportation can compound the problem, Littleton says. For example, she is working with a caregiver whose husband is in a wheelchair after a stroke. The caregiver tried using a van service to get her husband to physical therapy and doctor appointments, but it wasn’t reliable enough. The caregiver ended up selling her personal vehicle to buy a van that can accommodate a wheelchair.
Blue Cross VT case managers can help caregivers work through problems like transportation. “A lot of times, it's just connecting the dots or bridging that gap that they're just not familiar with, especially if they're new to the caregiver role, and just talking it out with them,” says Littleton. “That's very important, just feeling like they have somebody to bounce things off of and know that there's somebody to call. They don't feel so alone, or isolated, or stuck.”
How to Connect with Us
Caregivers who are Blue Cross VT members can contact our case managers for assistance. We want to support the work you’re doing, so please reach out to us!
- Call (800) 922-8778, option 3
- Log in to the Member Resource Center and send a secure message to case management
