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Companions Provide Solutions
By Janet Trakin, Staff Writer
Whether you are seeking rewarding
volunteer work or if you live too far from your loved
one to be a caregiver, either becoming a companion or
procuring one for your loved one may be the answer.
Laurie Sue Kislik, 51 of Boynton Beach, Florida and a
companion to the elderly in her spare time, has insight
regarding the need for a companion in an elderly
person’s life. “I call myself the surrogate kid,” Ms.
Kislik said. “And the reason that there is such a need
for companions is that many of the elderly that are
living independently in Florida have family who are not
living in Florida. They may live up north, they may live
in the Midwest or they may be living anywhere else. I am
like a go-between between the families to make sure
their parents, aunts or whoever it was, was cared for.
The way I work is that I speak to the families by
telephone to give them updates on how their loved one is
doing.”
Companions undertake non-medical duties, often helping
with the elderlies’ day-to-day business. It involves not
only visiting the person but making sure they have the
medication they need, ensuring that they are taking them
when needed, making sure their bills are paid and that
they are handling their finances, making doctors’
appointments, making sure the appointments are
scheduled, finding or providing rides to doctors’
appointments, and helping with food shopping.
Laurie Sue and others like her who work with the elderly
find that there are two hard parts to being a companion:
having patience and dealing with their death. “You have
to have a lot of patience with the elderly because they
do things slowly,” she explained. “However, the hardest
thing is when someone you care for passes away.”
Some of Ms. Kisliks clients passed away and it was very
hard for her because she got very close to them. “I had
several clients who passed away. I was closest with a
woman named Esther. She was a wonderfully bright, spry,
and funny woman. I cared for her for several years. She
was about 93 when she passed away. I went to her funeral
and it was very said. Just as it is when you lose anyone
you care for,” she said ruefully.
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