In this caregiver spotlight episode, meet Beth Suereth who cared for her father for over five years through hospitalizations, dementia, cancer and diabetes. Beth shares how her family came to realize that hospitalizations and additional surgeries for her dad weren’t the only options. Listen to the show and hear Beth’s passion shine – she is on a mission to help improve the health care culture by better educating and preparing family caregivers.
Listen to the show: Caregiver Spotlight – Beth Suereth
Words of Encouragement
Each episode starts off with a few words of inspiration or motivation that is pulled from the Happy Healthy Caregiver Jar.
Today’s Show Sponsor
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Links & Resources Mentioned
- Beth and Elizabeth mention Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal shares a story of how one doctor’s perspective on end of life changed after caring for his father.
- Beth offers a free resource for families called How to Help Your Loved One in the Hospital:You Can Make a Difference. Inside you’ll find detailed information about the family caregiver’s important role which includes specific tips on communication, sharing important information about your care recipient, and advocating for your loved one to receive the best care. The guide even includes scripts to use when talking with doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff.
- Beth recommends leaving a physical medical notebook with the care recipient at all times so everyone can add to it and refer back.
- Elizabeth and her family used an online journal through Caringbridge.org that allows for
- Beth is currently working on developing a three score system to measure the effectiveness of family caregivers on inpatient health outcomes, satisfaction, and cost.
- AARP’s CARE Act (Caregiver Advise Record Enable) has been passed in 40+ states says the patient must be advised of the option to name a family caregiver and have that person’s name and contact information entered in the patient’s record so the family caregiver can receive the advance notice and instructions around discharge planning.
- Beth is an End of Life Doula with INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association). Enlisting an End of Life Doula could make sense when you suspect or know that an end of life is imminent. These individuals help with understanding all the systems involved and will help formulate a detailed plan for the family to follow.
- Join Elizabeth and Beth at the 4th Annual National Caregiving Conference in Chicago this November. Beth is a panelist on a panel Elizabeth is moderating called ‘Creating a Profitable Caregiving Business’. Beth is also speaking on two topics: ‘How to Help Your Loved One in the Hospital: You Can Make an Amazing Difference’ and ‘When the Care Plan Becomes an End of Life Plan’.
- All of the prompts from the lightning round segment of the show are borrowed from Elizabeth’s book Just For You: a Daily Self-Care Journal.
- Elizabeth enjoys Queer Eye with the Fab Five on Netflix because each episode shares a wonderful self-care story. Beth is currently watching the new season of Thirteen Reasons Why.
- Beth’s favorite ‘power words’ are ‘Influential’ and ‘Ireland‘. Elizabeth’s tip is to use these words as your passwords.
- If Beth could have a superpower she’d like to see what is going on in the ocean.
- Find out more about Beth’s services and resources on CaregivingPathways.com.
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Favorite moments & quotes from the episode
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