Re: [AI] Care Givers-new York Times article

[DR MD Muzamil Hussain]

Yes, the topic of caregivers is a good profession in India too.
Nowadays, the number of bedridden patients has increased due to
conditions like post-stroke, polyneuropathy, or road traffic accidents
(RTA). However, it is quite expensive in India. I remember when my
wife delivered a baby. Being away from family and both of us being
totally visually impaired, I hired a caregiver who charged 20,000 per
month in 2015.

Currently, as a freelancer in physiotherapy and Japanese  massage in
Delhi, I encounter many paralyzed patients, including young
individuals who require therapy. Our lifestyle has almost changed,
becoming more sedentary, so the demand for caregivers is likely to
increase. However, due to financial constraints, the government should
take some necessary steps to address this issue.

On 1/10/24, Pranav Lal  wrote:
> Hi Kanchan and all,
>
>
>
> We had hired nurses for my late grandmother which turned out to be
> expensive. She needed almost 24-hour care, no insurance, nothing.
>
>
>
> Pranav
>
> --
> Disclaimer:
> 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the
> person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;
>
> 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails
> sent through this mailing list..
>
>
> Search for old postings at:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "AccessIndia" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/01a401da435a%2469d2ef00%243d78cd00%24%40gmail.com.
>


-- 
DR MD Muzamil Hussain
-Eyeway Helpdesk counselor
Partner Organization
*HELP Foundation J & K* A: 50 Tulsi Bagh, Behind Amar Singh College,
Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir
 India 190008.

. P: +91-194-2310256
7889894083.
,
Toll free No, 18005320469.
Email Id : dr.muza...@eyeway.org.in
Website: www.eyeway.org.in
You can stay connected with us on
Eyeway WhatsApp no: -9968329329

-- 
Disclaimer:
1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the 
person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;

2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent 
through this mailing list..


Search for old postings at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"AccessIndia" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAOd%2BsT5Fz_SG3j4h_CQFb3g5ojPheJSaTDkODfUKXJaoQ8STjg%40mail.gmail.com.

RE: [AI] Care Givers-new York Times article

[Pranav Lal]

Hi Kanchan and all,

 

We had hired nurses for my late grandmother which turned out to be expensive. 
She needed almost 24-hour care, no insurance, nothing.

 

Pranav

-- 
Disclaimer:
1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the 
person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;

2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent 
through this mailing list..


Search for old postings at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"AccessIndia" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/01a401da435a%2469d2ef00%243d78cd00%24%40gmail.com.

[AI] Care Givers-new York Times article

[Kanchan Pamnani]

 


Caregivers Helped Us Be a Family. Everyone Should Have That Option.


Jan. 1, 2024

 
 

Credit...Rita Puig-Serra Costa

 
 

* By Rachael Scarborough King

Ms. King is an associate professor of English at the University of
California, Santa Barbara.

My 7-year-old son, Carl, realized that it was Tuesday and asked why Robert
was not coming to our house that day. Robert had been a caregiver for my
husband, Ady Barkan, for more than five years, helping with Ady's day-to-day
activities as he became progressively paralyzed because of the
neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S.

Tuesdays were Robert's days, when he would help Ady work during the day and
pick up Carl and his sister, Willow, in the afternoon, often going out for
an activity in our red wheelchair-accessible van. Robert also helped Ady get
into bed four nights a week, arriving around the kids' bedtime and staying
until 10 p.m.

Ady died from complications of A.L.S. in early November. Since then,
 the
bustle of caregivers around our house has been strangely suspended for the
first time in years.

The kids didn't understand why Robert couldn't come anyway, so I texted to
invite him for dinner. We had our usual Tuesday meal of tacos, which Ady had
branded "Taco Martes"; while I cooked, Carl, Willow and Robert played Uno in
the living room.

ADVERTISEMENT

 
 SKIP ADVERTISEMENT 

Ady and I had close relationships with his caregivers, many of whom worked
with us for years. They allowed Ady to continue to live in our home,
surrounded by his family, even after his paralysis had progressed to the
point where I could not care for him on my own.

It's likely that most A.L.S. patients do not have access to this kind of
support - or to adequate caregiving in general. Health insurance plans cover
little, if any, in-home caregiving to assist with the tasks of daily life
(as opposed to skilled nursing services, which administer medicines and
change bandages, for example). Medicare also
 does not cover
assistance with activities like bathing and dressing. To
 qualify for Medicaid -
which varies state by state and has lengthy
 wait lists for home
care - patients and their families usually must exhaust almost all of their
assets first, which would have left me, as a now 39-year-old widow, with
almost no savings. We were fortunate to arrive at an ad hoc arrangement with
our health insurance company that reimbursed most of Ady's caregiving costs,
which totaled about $40,000 a month for round-the-clock care.

You read that right - by the end of his life, we paid nearly half a million
dollars a year for Ady's care. Living with A.L.S. offers an extreme example
of the care crisis that the United States is facing right now. Private
caregiving is exorbitantly expensive, even as more Americans will need paid
care in the coming years. The pandemic revealed how much our society relies
on caregivers, but we have failed to make changes to our insufficient
caregiving system. Political action to make home care more affordable and
available seems to have stalled in our divided Congress.

We cannot accept this status quo. In this election year, candidates will
present their platforms to voters. We have the opportunity to push those
seeking office to prioritize a care agenda that would recognize the
importance of caregiving to millions of people's lives. We can ask how they
will support patients and caregivers so that more people can enjoy the
quality of life that Ady's caregivers made possible.

Ady was diagnosed with A.L.S. in 2016, when Carl was 4 months old. In 2019,
he underwent a tracheotomy, which inserted a tube into his windpipe so that
a ventilator could breathe for him. A tracheotomy turns A.L.S. from a
terminal illness into a long-term condition, but it also requires constant
maintenance: suctioning secretions, changing the tubing and responding to
any alarms on the ventilator. Because Ady was paralyzed and could not
perform these actions himself, he needed 24/7 caregiving support provided by
a team of nine caregivers, including Robert.


Editors' Picks