Person: Lynette Bigfoot

Age: 41
Profession: Teacher

Currently a caretaker?
Yes. Special needs (autistic) son and mother in a bad car accident that was a
caregiver.

What kinds of challenges do you face being a caretaker?

Mother: Having a full time job, care for children, and normal every day
routine/duties. Had a little bit of help from sisters - she gets veteran benefits
(Champs VA), right on cusp on Medicare/have to receive Medicare.

Son: Working full time and having him be in school but still needing to take him to
therapy during the day. Tons of paperwork (FMLA through job, etc) to document
because it is intermittent FMLA.

Hard to manage appointments, managing paperwork, knowing what is supposed to go

where - managing insurance and doctors by yourself is very complicated. It was
very difficult.

What kind of help did you need while being a caretaker?

Mother: I don�t know; it was very overwhelming. It was mostly the time between
giving care to my mother and children. She couldn�t walk, we needed equipment for
my house (buy it or see if VA could provide). If the VA could provide, there were
extra issues of getting it.

Son: Gotten easier to manage therapy (been doing for 2 years), having his diagnosed
was really difficult, trying to have him evaluated in school at same time so
ongoing thing with school paperwork, documentation, and who to take him to for his
evaluation process.

What were your fears when being a caretaker?

Lack of time, not doing a good job, neglecting something else. Several times have
had issues with insurance that we didn�t figure out until much later so it couldn�t
be corrected and cost us some money.

Have you heard of Cariloop?

No

If Cariloop was offered by your company, would you sign up for the service?
Need to know cost - but having a way to guide me through all of it, I would be
willing to pay. That early on part with my son was really difficult.

What would you want Cariloop to provide for you?

Guidance and understanding - �Here, take your son to this type of doctor. Here is
where you go next�. Understanding the next steps. I did a lot of it myself; my
pediatrician did not do a good job of supporting me through the referral process so
I was left alone. Along with this was finding who could work for my insurance -
who to pay, who was in my network, etc. When you are diagnosing for autism, you
have to eliminate many things so I had to go to several different doctors and
specialists to eliminate other issues. Had to go to another specialist to make
sure it wasn�t his vision. It was a long, hard process to figure out who would pay
for what in my network.

What kind of impact do you feel Cariloop would have provided for you?
It would have given me more time to help my mom recover. Given me more time because
I did a lot of it at 4AM while she was sleeping. Just the managing of stuff (who
to send what to, etc and doctors communicating) was very stressful; I feel Cariloop
could have potentially taken that stress away. If they could manage the paperwork
so I can focus on being caregiver I feel that would have helped a lot. It could
have helped me gotten through the process easier and sooner for diagnosing my son.
I didn�t know where to go and also with having paperwork filed at the school, given
misinformation, and other things.

Person: Emily Johnson

Age: 48 - 55
Profession: Teacher

Currently a caretaker?
No but have been in the past. I have been a caretaker for both parents and most
recently my husband.

What kinds of challenges do you face being a caretaker?

Overwhelmed by the responsibility - feeling like I was the only one. Even with
siblings (one of 8). The other siblings would not pitch in (because I am the
oldest girl). Hospice was a big challenge - deciding on the right people to play
that role in my mom�s life. Another challenge was working full time and being
responsible for her meals, her chemo, getting her to and from her chemo and all the
other doctor appointments (which there were a ton) because she didn�t drive and she
was wheelchair bound.

What kind of help did you need while being a caretaker?

Help with meals, help with just checking in with them, help with laundry, help with
chores (basic chores). Needed help navigating insurance and the medical system.
Had a lot of trouble with who to go to, what was financial responsibility, who was
covered. I�m sure it would be more of a nightmare today...

What were your fears when being a caretaker?

That they would die in my care (top fear), that I would under/over medicate
(responsible for administering a lot of the medication), and that I wasn�t doing my
best or enough. I had a real fear of it hurting my relationship with my siblings
because I was angry with them, all the time.

Have you heard of Cariloop?

No.

If Cariloop was offered by your company, would you sign up for the service?
If employer paid for at least half or offered it at lower than individual rate, I
would. Otherwise, $600 a year is too expensive for me.

What would you want Cariloop to provide for you?

Emotional support, maybe some therapy, some PTSD therapy - I spent a year trying to
dig out. It�s not just while they�re here, it�s the aftercare as well. It was
very, very difficult. Emotional support is huge. If you can get it through family
great, but usually, part of the reason you need it is the lack of family support.
Just a very knowledgeable source to navigate your way around the healthcare system.
Answer questions that come up about �what�s the best hospice service?� �What can
make me a better caregiver? Are there classes/training I can go through to give
this person the best possible care?�
What kind of impact do you feel Cariloop would have provided for you?
I think it would have helped both my mother and I because there was so much guilt
from me from feeling overwhelmed that I took it out on her. If I had that support,
maybe I would have felt less overwhelmed and been kinder to her while she was here.
It would have mattered.