Supporting Family Caregivers of Adults with Communication Disorders A Resource Guide for Speech-language Pathologists and Audiologists

Supporting Family Caregivers of Adults With Communication Disorders: A Resource Guide for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists provides professionals in speech-language pathology and audiology with tools to assist and support family caregivers of persons with communication disorders. It is intended for speech-language pathologists and audiologists who provide intervention for adults with chronic or disabling conditions.Family caregivers are those who provide continuous, unpaid care to family members and friends who are unable to care for themselves. Caregivers can be trained by speech-language pathologists and audiologist to augment goals established to remediate communication disorders and can be instrumental in motivating clients to complete a program of therapy. However, family caregivers are themselves vulnerable to a number of debilitating conditions as a result of the physical and emotional toll that daily caregiving can take. The stressors are well documented, including the development of chronic diseases, premature death, fatigue, and depression. In addition, caregivers and their coping styles differ according to cultural expectations, and these differences are described in detail here. Supporting Family Caregivers of Adults With Communication Disorders is needed as a resource for clinicians who provide education and counseling to adult patients and their families.Key Features: Detailed description of stressors that affect family caregivers Questionnaires and survey instruments to help clinicians recognize the signs of caregiver fatigue and distress Resource information to support caregivers and engage them in the goals and objectives of intervention Information on caregiver resources that specialize in support areas such as transportation to and from the clinic, financial literacy, respite care, meals, end of life care, advance directives, and home health servicesCaregivers are invaluable to the quality of life of persons with communication disorders and to insuring that persons with communication disorders receive intervention from speech-language pathologists and audiologists. This valuable resource will help clinicians assist family caregivers in providing this crucial role.