Who cares for the caregivers?
15,208 views |
Toine Heijmans |
TEDxAmsterdam
• November 2019
Alzeimers is different for everybody. No one knows what will haven for any person. They were told his father could change quickly or slowly. ‘This talk is not about him; it’s not about my mellow dad that turned into an angry man. It’s not about my stubborn dad who wanted to be the director of his own life. This talk is about my mother, my brother and myself. When my dad was diagnosed, we were diagnosed too.’ For Heijmans and his family, the doctors couldn’t answer many of their questions. ‘What will happen, when will things start to change?‘ They didn’t know. It depends on the person. Toine tells us about how he and his family acted as caregivers and warns us that that anti alzheimer's yoghurt drinks definitely do not help, contrary to what doctors recommend. Heijmens explains how he grew to hate the word caregiver. It is not a friendly and light hearted term like it sounds. But it is instead cruel, hard work and horrible. Caregiving is not easy. Sadly, it is not always like ‘care’ it is more like labour. No one can prepare caregivers for what’s in store. But what can be told is the certainty of the situation; stress, death, preparations and needing to stick together. Take care of the caregivers too.