The covid pandemic-01 has exhausted caregivers of older adults, who in these times of high rebound in covid cases due to the highly contagious Omicron variant, they need to have priority to receive the covid tests and the booster vaccine.
“Now it is very difficult to obtain the tests easily when they are trying to protect the older adults they care for and those who despite being vaccinated, they are at high risk because they have preexisting conditions,” said Dr. Donna Benton, director of the Family Caregiver Support Center at the University of Southern California (USC) .
And he added that it is a challenge for the elderly who, for example, suffer from dementia and have to put them in a car to take the exam, and this can also happen with young people who have developmental difficulties.
During the videoconference: “Caregivers through Through the generations- Overcoming the covid pandemic-01, rapping to promote vaccinations, accessing boosters and tests, and other challenges,” organized by Ethnic Media Services, several caregivers of older adults spoke of the challenges they have faced during these almost two years of pandemic.
Dr. Benton said that most of the care for older adults is done by family members and it is almost invisible work.
“There are about 4.5 million family caregivers in California , and at the beginning of covid, they were not given priority to get vaccinated and give them protective equipment because they have less than 60 years“.
Fortunately, he said that as the pandemic changed, they were able to get vaccinated, which gave them a sense of security not to be a risk of infecting the people they care for.
Something they observed during the pandemic, she said, was that many family caregivers dropped out of the workforce because they couldn’t care for an older adult and young children at the same time, when that was the case for them.
On the other hand, he said that the Omicron variant continues to increase, and they have to do everything as possible to minimize the risk of infection and re-infection.
Although Ruth Rembret is an older adult, she takes care of her husband diagnosed with multiple myeloma, who can’t even afford to catch a cold, and since he’s in the middle of his treatment, his immune system is compromised.
“Sometimes I feel like I need a rest and who takes care of me. I recently had a mammogram, and now I have to have a biopsy.”
She says that she does not let anyone who is not vaccinated visit her house , still wearing a mask. “People don’t realize the danger they put on you when they don’t get vaccinated or don’t wear a mask. That is why the pandemic has been a challenge for my husband and me, who used to be able to do things like take out the garbage.”
Rembret wishes the pandemic would be over, but says it doesn’t look like it will go away any time soon, unless the importance of vaccinations is taken seriously.
Noella Buchanan, a retired pastor and caregiver of a relative of more than 80 years, said that many of the older adults they care for are religious people who think their faith will help them.
“I believe that in prayer, but also that God has allowed the vaccine. We are seeing loved ones die and they are those who have not been vaccinated, and those who have survived, it is because they have been vaccinated”.
He pointed out that there is anxiety in many older people right now.
” One of the reasons is that they cannot be online for two or three hours, or go to 4 or 5 places to find proof. We need to talk to our representatives in California because we need home care”.
Did you encounter resistance to getting vaccinated among people from your church?
“Anyone who comes to our Church has to take their temperature and wear masks, and for two years we haven’t had anyone with covid, and now they are giving around 80 tests per day to the people who go”.
Khalill Abdullah, journalist and who was his mother’s caregiver, until he died at 60 years in July, said that when the pandemic hit, they had to change the dynamics of their house for the people who visited them.
However, he mentioned that one of the difficulties encountered occurs when you live in a multigenerational household.
“If you have a 3-year-old child with mild covid, you cannot distance him from mother or father in the house. So it is very challenging”.
Some strategies to mitigate contagion is that one person does the shopping for 4 or 5 families.
“Support is what we need among families, neighbors or members of the Church”.
About the exhaustion experienced by caregivers, he understands because he has been through it.
“The key to the matter is to sit down and have conversations to see how they are going to do if someone gets sick and plan as if it were at war because we are at war”.
Kennedy King of years old, first-place winner of a rap contest at Saint Paul Church to promote vaccinations among youth with low vaccination rates, said she decided write rap because boys communicate better with music, and tend not to listen to news or older people.
“We listen to celebrities, artists, and our friends on social media. So for them to listen to me I made a fun rap about the importance of getting vaccinated.”
King’s rap lyrics read:
“Remember back in March, it started pandemic quarantine. It started to spread that people were getting very sick. Everything was closed. Yes, it arrived very quickly. But I’ll tell you something you really need to know about covid. Do not be afraid. Do not be shy. Correct. The covid vaccine can really save your life.
“It is approved by the FDA. Yes, you heard it. It is a fact. If you get vaccinated, we can interact, didn’t you say put the vaccine in front of the facts?… the reinforcement is here, you can choose between J & J, Pfizer, Moderna. Get the vaccine. It won’t hurt. Just tell your family and friends…”
To find a local Caregiver Resource Center, visit: https://www.caregivercalifornia.org/
Dr. Benton said that these centers provide individualized care services for unpaid caregivers.