7 Pillars of Successful Caregiving with Eboni Green

Lori La Bey talks with Eboni Green, who brings years of hands-on experience in caregiving education. With her background in healthcare, she's passionate about bridging the gap between caregivers and healthcare professionals, creating content that resonates on both personal and professional levels. She is the founder of Caregiver Support Services.

Learn:

1. The 7 Pillars to Being a Successful Caregiver

•       Selfcare
•       Empathy
•       Empowerment
•       Kindness
•       Patience
•       Communication Awareness
•       Active Listening

2.  Caregiver Courses

3.  Resources

 

Dementia Caregiving: Challenges and Success

Lori and Eboni discuss the challenges of caregiving for individuals with dementia, and share their personal experiences. Eboni talked about the importance of understanding what success means in caregiving, as it can change throughout the journey and depends on individual goals. They also touched on the different caregiving styles and how they can sometimes clash within families. Lori emphasized the need for open communication and flexibility in caregiving approaches.

7 Pillars of Successful Caregiving

Eboni shared the importance of open communication within families caring for a loved one, emphasizing the need to assign tasks based on individual comfort levels rather than assumption. She introduced the "7 Pillars of Successful Caregiving," which include self-care, empathy, empowerment, kindness, patience, communication, and active listening. Eboni also highlighted that while these concepts may seem intuitive, they often require clear definition in caregiving situations, particularly patience and kindness, to avoid disempowering the person receiving care.

Self-Care and Empathy in Caregiving

Dr. Green emphasized the importance of self-care, highlighting the need to prioritize and be intentional about nurturing well-being through activities such as reading, listening to music, or exercising. Lori shared her experience of creating a quiet space during her workday to manage anxiety and stress. Eboni explained empathy in caregiving as understanding a person's diagnosis and unmet needs while empowering them to maintain independence, contrasting it with sympathy, which can lead to dependency. Both agreed on the significance of empowering clients or loved ones to maintain their ability to function as independently as possible.

Caregiving Patience and Communication Awareness

Eboni and Lori talked about the importance of meeting unmet needs in caregiving while respecting the person's autonomy. They emphasized the value of kindness, simplicity, and patience in caregiving, noting that patience should be balanced to avoid inaction. Eboni also highlighted the significance of communication awareness, particularly in observing body language to better understand the needs of individuals with cognitive or memory loss.

Enhancing Caregiving Through Communication

Dr. Eboni Green and Lori discussed the importance of effective communication and active listening in caregiving, the need for intentionality, and awareness of one's own body language. They highlighted the value of sharing knowledge and insights within care teams to improve consistency and teamwork. The conversation also touched on the challenges of high turnover rates and lack of mentoring in healthcare, which can affect the quality of care and the well-being of both caregivers and patients.

Caregiver Action Plans: Essential Steps

Eboni Green discussed the importance of caregiver action plans, particularly for new caregivers and those with a caregiving team. She shared a six-step process on the Caregiver Support Services site, which includes starting with self-care and gathering necessary paperwork. Eboni emphasized the need for updated plans, sharing her own experience of being unprepared when her grandmother needed care after a hospital stay. Lori agreed on the importance of having a plan and warned against becoming too focused on planning at the expense of being present with the person receiving care. Both agreed that plans should be flexible and updated as circumstances change.

Caregiver Support Tools and Resources

Dr. Eboni  Green wrapped up discussing her caregiver support website, which offers tools like a six-step action plan, a wellness U-Model with nine components, and training resources for both family and frontline caregivers. She highlighted the importance of her book's seven pillars of successful caregiving and shared insights on handling challenging situations like client