Stress is often undetected among Latino family caregivers of people with serious illness. Caregivers are frequently under stress to provide all the care with little or no outside help. However, the early involvement of healthcare workers may provide further help. In this way, caregivers can keep their loved one at home and avoid nursing home stay.

Upon completion of this video, you will be able to:

• Understand the effect of culture on end-of-life care decisions.
• Identify when additional help in care is needed because of caregiver stress.

Key Points

• End-of-life care is provided through palliative and hospice care.
• Palliative care begins at the start of a serious illness and is given alongside treatments designed to combat the disease.
• Hospice care is a type of palliative care for people in the final months of life. It is considered when the person’s condition deteriorates and active treatment does not control disease.
• Caregiver stress happens due to the demands a person has while caring for their loved one. This can affect the caregiver’s mood and sleeping, leading to poor health.
• Early involvement of health care workers while caring for a loved one with serious illness provides better quality of life.

As a supplement to the Caregivers Like Me videos, you may wish to review Algo Le Pasa a Mi Viejo, a music video by Victor Manuelle dedicated to caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Watch the Video