Why Is it Important to Support Caregivers?
Supporting mesothelioma patient caregivers is a major role in treating the disease.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Caregivers are a critical component to patients facing diseases, facing these situations, and they are often overlooked in the day-to-day in providing medical care. Patients need a sidekick. Patients are superheroes. And I told my son I'm now his Robin. He's Batman. I'm his Robin. And it's important for the people treating that patient to take care of that caregiver because the caregiver is the one who's there day-to-day. The caregiver is the one who helps the patient stay positive when they start losing their esteem or confidence in their ability to get through this. The caregivers are the ones who are going to see the big picture, if you can help them do that, and that's why I think taking care of the caregiver is what will help also provide the patient better care and a better chance for survival. So much of this is about staying positive and believing that you can make it and live longer, and that's where the caregiver has a critical, critical role. Providing support for the caregiver in our program involves the social worker and the clinicians acknowledging the caregiver and specifically taking time to address, is the caregiver taking care of themselves so that they can continue to be the caregiver in an effective way? And so that involves some work on the clinician's part, some assessments from the social worker, and at times, involving additional resources where needed. [MUSIC PLAYING]
