God bless my Abuelita who celebrated her 83rd birthday this past April. My grandmother who has lived with Diabetes for a very long time has been very lucky to have three loving children who have divided up her needs and taken on different responsibilities in her caregiving. Whether it be providing her with financial support, a place to live, or tending to her everyday needs and doctors’ appointments, my grandmother has never not had someone there to assist her throughout her older years.
With this said though being a caregiver for the elderly is a very big responsibility and a huge undertaking. It can cause the caregivers’ stress levels to rise. This can even be more so on Hispanic Caregivers who on average are significantly younger than non-Hispanic caregivers and are much more likely to live with children or grandchildren (48% compared to 32% non-Hispanics). In addition, they tend to report the most stress factors from care giving according to the National Alliance for Caregiving, 2009.
So why is it that the Hispanic Caregiver may suffer from more stress than a non-Hispanic caregiver? Well for starters, the Hispanic population tends to have a longer life-span than the average population, this means they require care for a longer period of time. Although, a longer life span may insinuate health, Hispanics are more likely to suffer from diseases like diabetes and obesity in comparison to Non-Hispanic Whites. Therefore, not only do their medical needs often begin at a younger age, but because of their longer life-span, their medical needs go on for a longer time period of time too.
Unfortunately, this leads to financial, emotional, social, and physical stress on not only the care recipient (who may carry guilt about this), but also on the caregiver who must keep up with the much needed demand. I know in the personal case of my grandmother, none of her children would ever say out loud that caring for her is a burden because of their deep love for her. However, the reality is though, that it is still a big weight of responsibility at times and it can be overwhelming.
The statistics show that the number of elderly Hispanics will quadruple between 1990 and 2020, increasing from 1.1 million to 4.7 million, and it will nearly triple again by 2050 to 12.5 million. This suggests that issues relating to the health and long-term care of elderly Hispanics will become of much more importance. However, even with this said, Hispanics often face language and cultural barriers as they navigate the health and social service systems. There is a lack of diverse, elderly care services geared towards the Hispanic community and this should be of great concern as many Hispanics are plagued by chronic illnesses and disease in their later years.
Although, more than eight in ten Hispanic caregivers report receiving healthcare information from alternative sources like the media, while 33% of them say that they use the Internet to gather information, it has become apparent that there is a lack of valuable resources available to them that is specifically targeted to their demographic. In fact, 56% of Hispanics prefer to speak Spanish in their homes and yet 60% of online healthcare resources are only in English.
Comfort Plus, Inc wants to help change this problem by offering up the solution of providing Hispanic Caregivers with more bilingual informational resources that are relevant to them and their particular situations. Comfort Plus is known to provide top of the line, premium incontinence products, however they are reaching out to the Hispanic community because they are a family-oriented, value-driven company that believes that everyone needs the best service when dealing with the care of their loved ones. Furthermore, they understand that Hispanics have higher rates for the causes of incontinence, due to illnesses such as, diabetes, being overweight, and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, they know that Hispanic women reported more urinary incontinence than did non-Hispanic white women. These higher prevalences were largely associated with diabetes and other physiological issues according to Firouz Daneshgari, 2007. Moreover, 21% of Hispanic caregivers cite that they help their care recipients with dealing with incontinence.
Comfort Plus is also proud to provide the best incontinence product line on the market Tranquility®, made by Principle Business Enterprises, Inc. This top of the line product provides maximum absorbency and custom designs, and it gives lasting comfort to the user. The maximum absorbency allows the user to wear the garment longer, lasting more time in between changes. In turn, this allows for less hassle as well as uninterrupted sleep. Tranquility products are known to cut traditional incontinence garment usage in half. Thirdly, Tranquility products help you save money in the long run because although Tranquility products are priced higher than their competitors, they are much more efficient. After 30 days of using the Tranquility products, the user ends up spending around half of what they normally would with another leading brand. Also, users cut their garbage waste as well as the chemicals and water necessary for clean up with other products. Overall, this leads to a lot less stress on their daily lives.
I would like to introduce everyone to Comfort Plus’ new website at www.comfortplusonline.com. Comfort Plus felt it was important to have more than just an e-commerce website available to their customers. They wanted to make their products and services more accessible to at-home caregivers and to provide them with several engaging online platforms to help keep their customer’s informed on important caregiver topics. While you’re on the site make sure to check out “Comfort Plus Para Ti” section. This is a section of their website that is specifically for Spanish speakers. By creating this resource, they are one step closer to making sure that they are providing their customers with the best that they can.
Here is what you will find at “Comfort Plus Para Ti:”
Encuentra Tu Producto – This is an interactive matrix that helps the customer find the correct product by assessing their unique incontinence need and providing a solution for that need.
Atención al Cliente y Muestras – Customers are able to interact with a Spanish- speaking representative that will be able to assist them in choosing samples to find out what products would be best for them.
Gangas, Descuentos, y Más – Customers will be informed about all discounts and deals that Comfort Plus is promoting at the moment.
Centro de Recursos Para El Cuidador – Caregivers will have access to relevant, informative material that will be used to help caregivers with the multitude of issues that they face.
Blog- The Blog publishes select pieces from their Centro de Recursos Para El Cuidador and allows their followers to give them feedback.
Facebook-Comfort Plus has two Facebook pages, one in English – “Comfort Plus Medical Supplies” and one in Spanish – “Comfort Plus Para Ti”. They use these pages to keep their followers up to date on caregiver resources and product deals and discounts. These pages also serve as a resource for caregivers to share their own caregiver issues and advice.
So go visit www.comfortplusonline.com and use this Discount Code LMB2012 at checkout for $10 off any case of Tranquility products!
Make sure to go and “LIKE” the Comfort Plus Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter too @ComfortPlusZac!
This is part of a compensated campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and ComfortPlus Online. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
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