TikTok: A New Way To Discuss Caregiving

I was scrolling through TikTok yesterday and saw a difficult series of videos that showed an elderly woman spitting and throwing items at her caregiver. This showed up on my "For You" page, and I thought this would be a unique opportunity to open the conversation to talk about caregiving. 

Here is a screenshot from one of the initial videos that went viral. 

Tough Times As A Caregiver

This was one of many users that shared it, one video garnering over 5.2 million likes, and more than 295 thousand shares. There was no mention of the caregiver's race or insinuations made by the client, but it was easy for users to assume that this was the central issue. Some of the comments included: "Never too late to unplug it," "she literally on 1%," "nah, it's her time. we won't snitch sis," and one of the few that stood out to me was "They don't pay her enough money to deal with that ." 

The text on the video is also worth analyzing. If this woman is lucid, and still able to make her own decisions in terms of care, this is unsettling, but we cannot automatically conclude that this incident was motivated by race. However, if she is not, there is a lot more to discuss. 

Caregiving is a profession that is not meant for everyone, and the importance of having a professional caregiver take care of a loved one is for them to have access to training, continuing education, and helpful resources to aid in the care coordination process. 

I have worked as a caregiver before and looking at this situation through that lens, I believe that this woman has dementia or a dementia-related disorder. If this is the case, her brain is no longer able to use logical or critical thinking skills and relies on caregivers to fill in the blanks. Aggression and other behaviors are the results of an inability to communicate an unmet need, and this is an opportunity for the caregiver to find out what is going on, what the need is, and how to resolve the issue. 

Whether this woman has dementia or not, the comment section was full of vitriol and despite the remarks, I think that TikTok is a great medium for non-caregivers to learn more about the profession and what it entails since 29% of adults in the United States are caregivers. 

I was upset watching those videos on TikTok, wishing that I could talk to that caregiver, and encourage her to redirect the energy into a different activity or conversation, and to give her advice. However, I was scrolling down Facebook today, and saw this gem: 

Why Caregivers Care-Give

Here are the client and the same caregiver enjoying some drinks together while dancing and singing together! This is why caregivers do what they do on a daily basis. It is for more moments like these. I started working in the healthcare field because I wanted to care for my grandmother, and continued to help older adults in my community who did not have family available or experienced enough to be their caregiver. 

General Tips For Caregiving

I don't know the specifics about this caregiver and the client's situation, however, here are some general best practices: 

• Please do not videotape or take pictures of clients (This is a HIPAA violation and can lead to serious consequences on your agency and/yourself, your CNA license, etc... depending on the nature of your employment)
• Many agencies have rules against caregivers drinking when working (There are no specifics about what the drinks are in the videos, but this is still a good rule of thumb)
• If you are experiencing combative or aggressive behaviors during a shift, call your office, chart what happened, and seek guidance on how to improve future interactions with this client
• Condition-specific training is crucial! If you are not familiar with diabetes care, Parkinson's care, etc... please ask for additional training. In general, for dementia, it is a good practice to redirect the activity into something more productive. Instead of washing the dishes, maybe the client was wanting to wash the dishes herself and have her vacuum, or maybe her dentures were too snug and she was trying to express pain. There are infinite amounts of things that could have happened in that interaction, and I hope that others think twice before making assumptions about caregiver abuse. 
• There are many protections in place to ensure client safety, however, I am an advocate for caregiver and employee protections in the event of injuries sustained during working hours with a client. This can take many forms, however, it is going to be tricky, especially for clients that are disabled and/or are not of sound mind. I hope to see improvement in the future, not only in legal terms but for the public to be more educated on (the logistics of) caregiving. 

Please contact me by commenting below to continue the conversation and I would be happy to assist!