After the “forced stop” of the pandemic, the STIMA centers reactivate the “Cuid-Arte” initiative online, a support group open to all family caregivers who need help to alleviate the overload of caring for a dependent person.
Thus, the STIMA Day Centers, aware of the need for training, information and support constant by the relatives of dependent elderly people makes available to any interested party the group of caregivers «Care-Art», which meets with professionals from STIMA centers with the objective of addressing issues related to diseases that are addressed in the centers. In addition, attendees can transfer all their concerns that arise in daily care from the dependent elderly person to the professionals of the center.
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This caregiver support group takes place with a biweekly frequency for two hours via zoom. «On the occasion of the pandemic we were forced to temporarily paralyze it to minimize the risk of contagions within the centers. Now, after valuing it a lot, we have taken it up online because the need of families increased and worsened with the current situation we live in“, Explain Patricia del Barco, Director of Operations of STIMA Group.
The «Cuid-Arte» program is aimed at all caregivers of users of STIMA centers and also to any caregiver who might be interested. «Normally, families who have contacted us for any reason are invited, the information is sent to social workers in the area and to doctors or other collaborators. STIMA’s interest is to help the more families the better«, Says the Director of Operations.
Feeling accompanied on the long journey of care
The positive effects of this initiative are multiple for both caregivers and the person cared for. First caregivers improve symptoms of overload, feel supported, are more and better trained about the illness of the elderly, feel less loneliness, are more relaxed and they generally feel company on the long journey of care to a dependent person. For their part, older people benefit from a caregiver who cares with more quality, happier and more calm.
«The caregivers are the great forgotten in general by most of the resources that serve the elderly. Habitually it is assumed that the only person who has needs is the most dependent as the person is sick or disabled; However, caregivers need us to listen to them too and we take them into account«, comments Patricia.
For the Director of Operations of STIMA caregivers must be present as a fundamental part of the intervention to be carried out with the elderly person because they must be part of the solution and not be part of the problem by not taking them into account. «A caregiver who is not overloaded collaborate better in continue work what is done in the day center when the oldest is at home«, He assures.
Regarding the future plans of «Cui-Arte», Patricia del Barco concludes «We hope that the group grows, grows a lot, that it becomes a large community, a support group that reaches out to many families both in person (we hope we can resume this format in the short term) and online«.
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