Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Hello,
I am Dr. Marie Beatrice Hyppolite. I hold a doctorate in Health Science with emphasis on Global Health and master’s degree in social work. I have over 14 years of experience in the field of health and human services.
This podcast is primarily focused on mental health and the quality-of-life elements that affect it such as divorce, death, domestic violence, trauma, toxic relationships, and single parenthood to name a few. It is no secret that mental health challenges continue to profoundly impact modern society although not enough discussion is given due to stigma. Research has shown an increase of 25 % in mental health crises after COVID-19. It is important to have honest, uncomfortable conversations about mental health while being supportive. Although we are interdependent, change begins with the individual, hence “your world.”
I welcome you to join me on my journey and look forward to your responses.
Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
The Hidden Heroes: Supporting Those Who Care for Others
Every healthcare professional has likely encountered the silent struggle of caregivers—those dedicated individuals who sacrifice their time, energy, and often their own wellbeing to support loved ones with chronic conditions or disabilities. In this deeply personal conversation, Dr. Sheelagh Schlegel draws from her 33 years as an occupational therapist and her extensive work in global health to shed light on the hidden crisis of caregiver burnout.
Dr. Schlegel shares compelling stories from her practice that illustrate the multifaceted challenges caregivers face. From the spouse who missed an entire year of medical appointments while caring for a partner with dementia, to the financially-strapped daughter forced to leave her mother alone during work hours, these accounts reveal the impossible choices many caregivers confront daily. Perhaps most eye-opening is her discussion of children thrust into caregiving roles—a particularly vulnerable situation that demands our attention and intervention.
What makes this conversation particularly valuable is Dr. Schlegel's balanced approach. While acknowledging the serious risks of caregiver burnout, she also emphasizes the deeply fulfilling aspects of caregiving when properly supported. She offers practical guidance for healthcare professionals on building trust with caregivers, identifying early warning signs of stress, and connecting families with appropriate resources. Her profound insight that "if the caregiver goes down, the whole care situation may collapse" underscores why supporting caregivers isn't just compassionate—it's essential for sustainable patient care.
Whether you're a healthcare professional looking to better support your patients' caregivers, someone currently in a caregiving role, or simply preparing for future caregiving responsibilities, this discussion provides valuable perspective and actionable strategies. Listen now to understand why the wellbeing of caregivers must be central to any comprehensive care plan.
Hello everyone, I'm Dr Beatrice Ippolit and this is your World. Hello everyone, today we are more than privileged to have a special guest with us. You know, sheila, I don't like to say your name because I don't want to make any mistakes. So will you tell the?
Speaker 2:viewers what your name is. It's very difficult to say my two names together. So I am Sheila Schlegel, formerly Murphy, which would have been a lot easier. I did marry Mr Schlegel, now Schlegel, so yes, it's a little difficult to say. Oh, you can call me Sheila you know, that's how it's gonna be. That's what I always say. To say it three times fast, or?
Speaker 1:just call you Dr Sheila. You know so, sheila and I, so it's like you know, we have some history, right.
Speaker 2:We do Started online in our online program. I reached out because I said wait this lady's from.
Speaker 1:Haiti, we've got to be friends and you know what's funny? You know, so it's like you know, when I started talking to Sheila, I found out that sheila was more asian than I am. Yes, I did travel to haiti a lot for about 10 years, and her husband traveled to my country a lot, so they they used to teach in a school back there too. You're still teaching there, right?
Speaker 2:yes, we're teaching an occupational physical therapy program oh started off in person, but now it's virtually, unfortunately, because we cannot travel to haiti.
Speaker 1:But yeah, we're teaching different courses as volunteers okay, so while we're talking about Haiti, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself? In Haiti or just in general.
Speaker 2:In general, I'm an occupational therapist. That's my trade 33 years as a therapist and, along the way, just like yourself, I wanted to. I actually graduated in Ireland and I came here very quickly afterwards. But, as yourself, I wanted to enhance my education. I wanted to continue my education and I decided because of my work in Haiti and my love for working with marginalized communities and global communities I decided to do a Master of Public Health and then a Doctorate in Health Science with a specialization in global health. So it was mostly because of Haiti that I went into this direction of public health and global health to work, be able to enhance my work there. And so, even though I go to Haiti and I go to other countries as an occupational therapist, I also have some background in public health and global health to help plan programs better, do a better job, so that we try to work with sustainability and, you know, with different communities.
Speaker 1:Okay, I know today you're not here to talk about Haiti, but before I even start with the subject that you really want to talk about. So what really was the trigger that pushed you to start working?
Speaker 2:in Haiti. Well, I always wanted to work in a global setting. From when I was younger, you know, I came and started working in the United States, I started having children and I got married and married again. So I wanted to always go and work in another country. So, as it happened, or the church that we belong to had a Haitian priest working there so when he said hey, who wants to go to Haiti? I was the first person.
Speaker 2:I think the only person to raise my hand at that time, so that started a tremendous experience of going to Haiti.
Speaker 1:And eventually you got your husband involved.
Speaker 2:No, the very first trip we weren't married at that time, we were both divorced, we were friends, we were colleagues and I said hey, you want to go to Haiti. So actually our first trip together, which became a love story and then we got married a few months later, is because of Haiti.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:So it was a journey of a lifetime for both our relationship and for our beginning to love Haiti. Okay, that's wonderful. So in many ways, you know, God pointed us in that direction for a reason. I think, six months later, we were married.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, and on behalf of all the Asian people, I want to thank you, both you and your husband, for all you have done for the country. I know that, you know you gave your sweat, you know it's a love for the country.
Speaker 2:So I thank you for saying that, but I also thank Haiti for giving me a start in global health and for giving me my doctoral project, my romance and marriage with my husband and all of the beautiful food and experiences and friends that I've made. So I think it was a mutual it's a mutual thing.
Speaker 2:I know that I've helped Haiti, but Haiti has also been a huge gift for me, and now working with the students there you know it's I feel like I'm helping the next generation of health providers, health care providers, so I'm hoping that that in some way helps the country and I still owe you some black horizon I think my whole family wants to come for the food you know definitely.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna make it happen now. So what you have for?
Speaker 2:us today.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that I'm passionate about and actually right now I'm working on a on a study of of parents in Guatemala, because I haven't been able to travel to Haiti, so I have been going to Guatemala is this whole idea of caregiving.
Speaker 2:So right now I'm working, as I still work with children as well, but my my main focus is home, health and working with adults, older adults. But working with parents has been a project that I've been working on, and it just brings to me both the importance of caring for the caregiver and how much stress caregivers whether it be the parent of a child with multiple disabilities or a disability, or whether it's an adult or young adult or older adult caring for somebody else that I feel passionate about making sure we're always looking after the caregiver. As I like to say, you know, the caregivers are our clients too. Yes, we cannot enter into a relationship with a client without, at some point, engaging with a caregiver, whether it be a paid caregiver, an unpaid caregiver, a family member, spouse, neighbor, whatever it is. We're going to somehow engage with that person. For the most part, and we must consider them as part of our therapeutic relationship and even ourselves.
Speaker 1:So you know, you know, at some point in our lives absolutely we're gonna fall into that category too, absolutely and you could be, you know, squeezed from both sides.
Speaker 2:You may be a parent, but you're also caring for your own parent so there's many people that are under this type of stress. It can be a positive experience too, caring for somebody. Let's not make it negative. You know always negative but it can be a very positive experience. But it's also a point of concern for us as health care professionals, especially for caregivers mental health.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Because it's incredibly stressful.
Speaker 1:It is. It is, and sometimes you know you find people who will be taking care of their parents, you know, or sick child, or whom have you and don't have the support you know to kind of like help them with their mental health Right. So now everything falls on your shoulder. You have to take care for your sick parents. Now you have your family on your own, so you have your job that to go to.
Speaker 2:You have this and that, in fact, 60% of caregivers are working full time, so imagine the stress of having to try to and a lot of them don't even tell their employers, so they have the stress of taking care of the client or their family member, and then they're also trying to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I feel that sometimes they should be able to find people that they can rely on, people, that if they got to a point where they need some assistance, where they can easily call to say you know what, can I have two hours or three hours? So while I'm taking care for my sick mother, my sick father, that would be a good thing to find somebody to give me like a two or three hours with speech you know, with my child.
Speaker 2:You know, I think that's the point of of contention with a lot of people who are caregiving is they feel guilty if they have somebody else care for their child or for their parent or whatever they. It makes them feel inadequate or they're stressed about it. They're worried. Will that person take care of mom or dad, like I do?
Speaker 2:but it's it so they often resist you know, having you know outside help because they feel guilty or they feel like I'm. I'm not a you know, I'm a lesser person if I let somebody, a stranger, come in and take care of my parents or my my sister my brother. But it's something we need to work. We need to work with them on now. The first thing is develop the trust right. So we want to obviously get the client to trust us right away. You want to. First thing is to make the relationship with the client.
Speaker 2:Second thing is you've got to form the relationship with the caregiver and there can be challenges with that. I'm sure you've had conversations, as I had, where the caregivers or the parent or whatever is stressed and maybe a little angry or frustrated. So sometimes it can be difficult to make that relationship but, it is important to try to make it, but it's doable.
Speaker 2:It may be difficult but it's doable. Patience and empathy and time and giving them a chance to talk maybe giving them time, a phone call or just time for them is really important to build that relationship.
Speaker 1:And sometimes you may be taking care of a person where you have to give up on your own life, literally.
Speaker 2:You know like.
Speaker 1:I've seen people who had to quit their job.
Speaker 2:Especially if you're taking care of somebody with, say, dementia, where they have to be supervised 100% of the time.
Speaker 2:They may be having problems with sleep, they may be getting up at night, they're not safe to be alone.
Speaker 2:It can be incredibly stressful for a caregiver in that situation because they're not able to trust that their family member is going to be safe, listen or remember instructions. So it's incredibly, incredibly stressful. So what I try to practice is, when I go into, especially when I do home health, is, if there's a caregiver there whether it be the son or daughter or spouse or, you know, could be anyone really could be a partner or friend is I'm going to ask them how are you doing? I'll do my assessment of my client, but I'm also going to say how are you doing and just let them know that I have empathy for them and I'm going to encourage them maybe not day one, but over time start looking for options, like you just said, for a couple of hours, two or three hours, to give them a break and, as I feel as healthcare professionals, it's part of our job to, to you know, make referrals and try to help them get the services that they need yes, yes indeed.
Speaker 1:And when you say, when you go to the home, you, you actually know not. You know that you deal for the patient, but you also want to make sure that you check on that caregiver, and sometimes even if it is a paid one.
Speaker 2:I remember yes, when I used to come. That's a really good point.
Speaker 1:Yes, I remember when I used to come back home visit as a social worker. So it's like when I go to their home and I see their home attendant, bear in mind for you and I or other people professional in the field. They may have the skill, the knowledge to deal with a difficult patient, but oftentimes those home attendants, they don't have the knowledge and the skills that many of us have. And here you are. They have to deal with a patient who suffers with dementia.
Speaker 2:And they may not be getting enough sleep, exactly. So, they may be up a lot or the person may be getting up at night, or they have to go to the bathroom, or they just need to be with them. So you have to watch out for the signs of burnout in paid caregivers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a job, but at the same time talking, so it can be stressful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean sometimes people employ you know, people and they're not being fair, they're not making sure that they're getting enough time off or sleep or things like that. So you want to be on alert for caregivers. Um, I don't want to make it too dramatic, but a caregiver who's very, very stressed and not getting enough sleep and not taking care of themselves are more at risk for getting for losing their patients, getting frustrated or more at least getting you know to getting into dealing with a mental problem yes, like stress, depression, anxiety and that can lead to a mental health issue for sure for a caregiver, where they're going to actually go down the road of getting a diagnosed condition.
Speaker 2:However, being observant and I think you spoke about doing your visits too like just opening your eyes to not just zeroing in on your client but just kind of watching how things are going in the, in the environment and that doesn't necessarily mean just the home it could be you're in the hospital with visiting a client, or you're in an assisted living facility visiting a client, or you know another type of residence, residential facility. Just watching and seeing what's going on. You might pick up something from Dynamics.
Speaker 2:There might be some tension going on or you're going to pick up that caregiver who's just so burned out, they're exhausted, they're not taking care of their health. I've been in a situation not that long ago actually in the past few months where a caregiver told me she didn't have insurance, she had a high blood pressure, she couldn't go to the doctor and she was actually asking me to take her blood pressure during the visit and I was at home to find out that her you know she had quite severe hypertension and she wasn't taking care of it. But she's just working and working and working, support her family and neglecting and this was a paid caregiver Also families as well.
Speaker 2:There's been other situations where I've noticed another client, a gentleman with Alzheimer's. They just moved into an apartment. So they just gave up their home, moved into an apartment. So the spouse was already feeling sad and, you know, depressed about leaving her their home, living in now a one bedroom apartment, which was a good thing in a way because it was, you know, more accessible. But I turned to her and I said how are you doing? And she said terrible, and I'm not. I haven't been to any of my doctor's appointments in the past year, not one. So she missed all of her appointments. Primary care cardiologist.
Speaker 1:Which is not good, yeah, endocrinologist.
Speaker 2:You know all of those. She just kept canceling her appointments and it was only that I looked at her and asked that question that she opened up and said right away yeah, I'm not taking care of myself at all.
Speaker 1:I haven't done to any of my doctors.
Speaker 2:That's not good, because you have to be healthy in order to invest in you know in others, right, and what I always say is if the caregiver goes down, the whole care of that patient may collapse. The whole situation might just implode, because now if the caregiver ends up in the hospital, this client is going to end up having to go into residential care or some type of 24-hour care, so it can really pull the whole situation down if we don't pay attention to the caregiver.
Speaker 1:I know a girl who's taking care of her father, and the mother lives in the house too. But there was a sick brother who got into the picture and unfortunately the sick brother lives in a different state, so where she had to travel to be of assistance to that brother while she's taking care of both of her parents, of assistance to that brother while she's taking care of both of her parents. So one day the girl called me and said beatrice, I don't know what to do, it's so stressful. And I know what she was dealing with because the tension, the stress you know.
Speaker 1:So you get two different directions, like you know, and she started crying over the phone because she didn't know what to do. It was way too much. She had too much in her plate, absolutely you know to deal with. So you live in New York, so now you have another sick person living in another state where you have to travel close to three hours to be of assistance, and you have your own parents and you have a small child.
Speaker 2:You bring up a really good point Like caregiving at a distance is very difficult. You know, some of us have been there when we're caregiving for somebody far away very difficult, but then also caregiving close you know where you're living with the person. I mean, in every situation there's risks and we have to be attentive.
Speaker 1:And sometimes it depends on the condition of the person. I know people who are taking care of their sick parents so they cannot even go out for a social event, right? Because if they go out, so that sick person cannot be left alone and oftentimes they may not have the money to pay for a sitter to stay with that person yeah, I've seen situations where people are going out and leaving the person in bed with you know the rails up because they can't afford a caregiver.
Speaker 2:I was one situation where the the client's- daughter was going to work that is whiskey too.
Speaker 2:Going to work for six, seven, eight hours and leaving mom in bed. Work for six, seven, eight hours and leaving mom in bed and using absorbent diapers or whatever to try to prevent any accidents. But it was because of her financial situation. She was supporting the two of them and I believe there was a child as well and she had to work. So we are not doing our jobs if we're not trying to help people find resources in that situation.
Speaker 1:Because everyone's at risk, because you know, if anything were to happen to that sick person, she would have been in trouble.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. If there was a fire or anything like that and I did have to have that conversation with her I actually brought in a social worker to help her get resources because I didn't want to come down hard on her, because I knew why. She was doing it, very caring to her mom, but that was too risky.
Speaker 1:That was very risky. Yeah, you know, because you know when you get into trouble. Unfortunately, the law will not take time to understand that you didn't have the money Exactly.
Speaker 2:The law is sort of black and white on that issue. You left somebody in bed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that will be considered, I think, as elder abuse or neglect, so it is up to us to sort of be observant, watch out for things and try to really educate and speak to those caregivers.
Speaker 2:I want to also bring up the subject of you know your typical caregiver is, you know, around about 50s, looking after an older parent, or it could be the spouse, obviously, of any age. I also want to bring up children being caregivers or young adults. You know adolescents sometimes because I have been in that situation where children are helping either their parents or their grandparents and are being put in a position of responsibility. Also may not be safe, but they're really caring and they're doing it for all the right reasons and they might actually be really good at it. But also you want to watch out for those children that the stress and the strain and the risk for mental illness, also the risk for trauma. If they are exposed to maybe somebody with dementia, with behavior issues, or maybe the person they're caregiving falls, it gets hurt. You know that there could be a risk for trauma for those children or young people.
Speaker 1:You know that there could be a risk for trauma for those children or young people. Yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned that, because way too often I've seen it like where, again and again, people have financial issues and financial issues can be a serious issue for many people, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Because, when you don't have it, you don't have it. I got it but in the meanwhile. So if you are, you know, so it's like you don't have the financial means to pay a sitter to come and stay with those kids. I've seen kids you know like 12 years old, though I don't think there is a specific age to really leave a child you know alone right however, if anything were to happen, then that's where you know everything gonna be in black and white.
Speaker 1:So if I have a 12 years old and I have a six years old or a seven years old, I cannot leave them alone, right?
Speaker 2:or I should not be leaving them alone or people may be leaving them with an older grandparent who's not capable, and both are trying to take care of each other, but neither are doing a very good job, so I've seen a case like that.
Speaker 1:You know where the grandmother was legally blind. On paper she was legally blind. They claimed that she could see. But I'm like, what you think and what is actually on paper are two different things.
Speaker 2:And I think that, sadly, we have to do a good job at educating them about what if something were to happen. You know, okay, things are going well now, but what if there's a fire? What if there's a fire? What if there's a weather event? I mean, we've seen severe weather, things right, where tornadoes drop down sometimes it even happened to us, you know or there's all of a sudden, you know, a hail storm. You have to think about those situations.
Speaker 1:Especially with kids. You know fire, it's easy, you know, for them to set, you know the place into fire. You know it's like you know they go and warm up something in the microwave. Yes, don't know. You know exactly that tray cannot be placed in the microwave before even know it. So it's an issue. So now? So that's when you're gonna have to answer to all of the questions and, uh, it's hard I'm not trying to be hard or not to understand people's situations.
Speaker 2:Most of the time it's financial. As you said, people have to work, they can't get time off, they can't get family medical leave unless it's unpaid. So they're trying to make it all. They're trying to keep all the balls in the air at the same time, juggling, and something's going to drop, either their health or the person they're taking care of, or their kids or whatever. So, yeah, it's really important to be observant, to look out for those risks and to bring in other professionals or resources or try to help them connect with other institutions that can help them.
Speaker 1:You know that could be a serious burden, While financially you didn't have the capability to spend or have the money to to spend or afford to do this or that. Now here you are dealing with a legal situation where you're gonna have to find money to pay for a lawyer exactly, exactly now.
Speaker 2:There are um, right now I'm not sure what will happen with changing governments and things, but right now there are resources in New York and the state that I live in, connecticut, where you can become a paid caregiver for your family member. It's not always perfect and it's not always available to everyone, but it's certainly something that people should consider, that they they can become. You know, get some paid, or somebody in the family can be paid to be a caregiver.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's the same for New York.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did look it up, and you do have it in New York too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, except you know, like for the wife, you know if it is your husband.
Speaker 2:Right, it can't be a spouse. We just got to take care of those husbands, no matter what.
Speaker 1:So you know that was part of the deal, the contract, yes, that was part of the contract, so it's like you know. So that's your burden, that's your responsibility.
Speaker 2:The government is not going to pay for you to take care of your husband or your wife.
Speaker 1:But even you know, I've seen, you know like family members who took on that job to take care of their sick parents but still have to do their regular job.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's constantly a burden. So, and I feel that if you have your regular job and sometimes people, some of them, may have more than one job, absolutely regular job, and sometimes people, some of them, may have more than one job, absolutely so it's like you know that it's not easy for you to do. You know, just leave the door open for somebody to get the help from somebody else because the government is paying for it.
Speaker 1:so, again and again, I'm not trying to get into people business or dictate people on right, you know what to do but uh, if I'm already walking, you know like full time and I know that you know so it's gonna be a burden because you don't want to burn out right.
Speaker 2:Sooner or later you're gonna feel it either mentally or physically, yes, or spiritually or emotionally it's going to take an effect, especially when it goes long term. You know years, one year turns to two, turns to five. You know it can be very, very hard on the, on the caregiver.