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Caregiving When You Have Arthritis

by Wendy McBrair, BSN, MS, CHES

There is a good chance that at some point in your life you will be called upon to help care for an elderly parent or relative, a disabled adult child, or even one or more grandchildren. Caregiving can be satisfying, but it can also cause difficulties, and these difficulties can be magnified for someone with arthritis. Trying to balance caregiving responsibilities with your need to take good care of yourself and your arthritis can be a real challenge.

This article will help you think through the caregiving decision process, and it will suggest some ways to make the caregiving situation the best it can be for everyone.

If you are faced with the issue of caregiving, your most important task is to educate yourself. You need to assess what would truly be involved in the situation; to examine your own health, skills, and limitations; to review the available financial resources; and to identify any other resources available to you and the person needing care.

Assessing the situation

Start off by identifying the real needs of the person or persons in need of care. If the person is older or disabled, you’ll need to ask yourself some basic questions. The following are examples:

• Does the person need physical/hands-on care?
• Can the person call 911?
• Can the person remember to take medicines?
• If something is wrong, is the person able to tell you what it is?
• How easy is it for the person to take care of toileting activities?
• Is the person able to leave the house alone?
• Is the person able to dress himself or herself?
• Can the person cook? Clean? Balance a checkbook?

Questions such as these will help you clarify what might be involved in taking care of this person. Different people have different needs. Some may require you only to check in once a day to help around the house. Others need regular hands-on care. In any case, you will want to listen closely to the person needing care and include him or her, to as great an extent as possible, in the decision-making process.

Input from a health professional who is familiar with the situation or with the health issue involved is essential. A health professional can do a complete evaluation of the physical and mental health of the person needing care and determine what is required. Doctors, social workers, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and even speech therapists work with caregiving situations regularly. Make contact and ask questions about your specific circumstances. Another option is to consult a geriatric care manager (GCM), a person who is trained to conduct assessments of potential caregiving situations and who can help prepare someone who is about to take on a caregiving role. There may also be other public and private agencies that can offer consultations. These include Area Agencies on Aging, local hospitals or nursing homes, and city or county agencies. (See “Caregiving Resources” for more information.)

Ask the health professional to be realistic. Sometimes it is hard to hear how much care a relative or loved one may need, but to make the best choice for everyone, it is important that you know. A history of strokes, paralysis, the inability to talk, the inability to be safe when alone, and the inability to get in and out of bed or to the toilet independently are some obvious red flags, indicating the person might need round-the-clock care.

If you are being asked to take care of a child or children, the issues are different. See “Caring for a Child.”

Assessing yourself

Once you are familiar with the kind of care that will be involved, assess your ability to provide it. Examine your skills and limitations and determine how your arthritis might affect the care you are able to give. Begin by asking yourself basic questions such as these:

• What about my life would I have to change, stop doing, or modify if I were to take on this new responsibility?
• Am I in the best physical health possible to take it on?
• Do I need surgery, such as joint replacement, first?
• If caring for this person involves moving him or her from a bed to a wheelchair, should I be doing that?
• If injections are needed, are my hands in good enough shape to give them?
• Can I, if necessary, navigate a flight of stairs?
• Can I shuttle the person to medical appointments?
• How tired does my arthritis make me?
• Would I be able to continue with the self-care activities that are so important for managing my arthritis?
• Could I do some of the caregiving if someone else were willing to share the responsibility with me?

Consider also whether there would be any kind of back-up plan, not only for days when you are feeling unwell but also to allow you time off to go out in the evening or go on vacation. Be honest with yourself about the impact of arthritis on your caregiving. And keep in mind that if you develop greater physical problems as a result of caregiving, it can have a negative impact not only on you but also on the person you are caring for and on family members who may have to care for you in the future.

Last Reviewed on February 8, 2012

Wendy McBrair spent 30 years as a health-care professional in the fields of rheumatology and orthopedics, where she specialized in patient and community services, patient education, and advocacy.

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