"You don't know how tough you really are until you've had to diaper your own dad," a friend told me several years ago after we ran into each other at the airport, and I'd asked the perfunctory question: "So, how's life treating you?"
She looked worn out. She'd spent months shuttling between Tulsa and the South, caring for her aging father in his own home — splitting duties with a sister and in-home aides. Her father had been in and out of hospital, and she wasn't sure honoring his wishes to remain at home was the best. Caring for an invalid parent had proved far more challenging than raising three children.
"I'm not always sure I know what I'm doing," this woman with the mind of a Mensa member and the heart of Mother Teresa confided to me.
She is far from alone.
At 600,000 strong, family caregivers in Oklahoma outnumber the entire active-duty U.S. Army.
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They've answered the call of duty and tasked themselves with helping friends or relatives stay in the place they most want to be — home. Yet many of these unsung heroes, as AARP President Marjorie Lyons aptly described them in a Feb. 15 op/ed column, feel overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the needs of those they help — especially after hospital stays.
This challenge is not lost on Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, who is pushing Senate Bill 1536, which would make sure that family caregivers receive the training they need to care properly for their loved ones after they leave a hospital. The bill also would allow patients to designate a caregiver at the time of hospital admission.
The Senate has approved the bill and it moves on to the House, where lawmakers should give it the same careful consideration. The well-being of thousands of vulnerable Oklahomans is on the line. The measure also could give caregivers peace of mind. Training at a hospital would not turn any of them into nurses or physicians. It might, however, give them some tools and skills to better handle situations they face at home.
The bill has the backing of the Oklahoma Alzheimer's Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the Oklahoma State Council on Aging, the Oklahoma Alliance on Aging and the Oklahoma Silver Haired Alumni Association.
AARP, the largest supporter, wanted to know if Oklahomans in general support the bill's purpose. In a nonpartisan, AARP-commissioned survey of 400 likely Oklahoma voters, respondents said they think it is important to provide better training for family caregivers.
"Not a single respondent said they were against this idea, and in this fractured political climate, any time we see consensus of this magnitude, it should make lawmakers take notice," SoonerPoll.com CEO Bill Shapard said.
Trained caregivers also might reduce hospital readmissions. A 2013 report found that 58 percent of state hospitals were penalized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for excessive hospital readmissions.
Last year, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority reported spending more than $62 million on Medicaid readmissions that occurred within 30 days of initial discharge. The authority found that 92 percent of respondents believed having a designated and well-instructed family caregiver could reduce costly hospital readmissions.
Nearly 95 percent thought having a designated and well-instructed caregiver could help patients stay in their homes longer and keep them out of more costly assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
Shapard himself recently faced a situation not unlike what the legislation aims to correct.
Over the course of a week, his 64-year-old father ended up in the emergency room, then in ICU and finally in a hospital room.
"He had five doctors of various disciplines on his records, a dozen nurses and a long list of different medications." Shapard said. "It was expected that he would be released to recover at home over the next two weeks and little to no instruction was given on how to make that at-home recovery successful."
That's a scary and potentially dangerous proposition for patients and family caregivers — those unpaid saints who provide 83 percent of the long-term care in this country to the ill and aging.
As with those $2 apiece hospital cotton balls and $5 per pill hospital ibuprofen, the training likely would show up in the bill. There's no such thing as a free anything at a hospital.
Yet, at a minimum, that army of caregivers — often tasked with tending to a convalescing patient — deserve basic training. Share that thought with your legislator.
Julie DelCour, 918-581-8379