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Caregiver's Bill of Rights

Grandmother and Granddaughter

I have the right to:

  • Take care of myself. This is not an act of selfishness. It will give me the capability of taking better care of another.
  • Seek help from others, even if the person I care for objects. I recognize the limits of my own endurance and strength.
  • Maintain facets of my own life that do not include the person I care for, just as I would if they were healthy. I try to do everything that I reasonably can for this person, and I have the right to do some things just for myself.
  • Get angry, be depressed, and express other difficult feelings occasionally.
  • Reject any attempts by the person I care for (either conscious or unconscious) to manipulate me through guilt and/or depression.
  • Receive consideration, affection, forgiveness, and acceptance for what I do from my family, for as long as I offer these qualities in return.
  • Take pride in what I am accomplishing and to applaud the courage it has sometimes taken to meet the needs of the person I care for.
  • Protect my individuality and my right to make a life for myself that will sustain me in the time when the person I care for no longer needs my full-time help.
  • Expect and demand that as new strides are made in finding resources to aid physically and mentally impaired persons in our country, similar strides will be made towards aiding and supporting family caregivers.
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