Advocacy Through a Role Transition APA

Advocacy through a Role Transition
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Abstract
Children born with disabilities, older adults and people with chronic disabilities demand special care. Family members, relatives and even close friends act as informal caregivers to ensure the lives of their loved ones proceed without many difficulties. In the work below role transition of an individual due to a natural defect of a loved one is discussed. A mother of two is the victim in this scenario. She has just learnt of her condition which has forced her to avoid most of her normal activities. She has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her husband who is an employee as a supervisor in a production company is expected to play the role of a mother, a caregiver and at the same time attend to his duties in his work place. An interview is conducted to discuss the concerns of a family caregiver. The resources that help the caregiver to translate to the new role of nursing the victims are identified. Different health care personnel relevant in the aid of the loved ones are discussed. The roles played by the health personnel to help deal with the condition of the mother are well defined. In order to offer effective care, the husband requires relevant resources. The resources available are identified.
Introduction
Most patients acquire care and support from family members. The informal care provided in cases of older adults and people with chronic disabilities can be considered substantial in all aspects considering the magnitude, intensity and duration of the care (Bryant et al.

, 2016). Caregivers should be considered as secondary patients in that they need to be provided with safety and guidance that will help them escape the risk to injury and other adverse effects during service provision. Most of the caregivers who are family based are usually unpaid care providers who highly deserve to gain competency in care provision and gain the ability to voluntarily protect their patients safely in regard to their health and their recipient health too.
For centuries family members have played the role of caregivers in cases of illnesses and other unprecedented injuries through accidents and chronic ailments. In most cases, these caregivers become subjects to harm and susceptibility to disease contraction and mental problems a result of conditional experiences through care provision (Bryant et al., 2016). Most of these caregivers have to deviate from their daily activities and concentrate their attention to the patient. This transition is a stepwise procedure where the caregivers have to adapt a new life of managing multiple tasks (Jaffray et al., 2015).
A family caregiver and/or an informal caregiver is an unpaid sister, brother, sibling, relative, parent, friend or a neighbor who offers care services to an individual experiencing acute or chronic conditions and is in ultimate need of assistance to handle different tasks (Lopez-Hartmann et al., 2012).The tasks can include bathing, cooking, washing, dressing, movement as well as taking medications. There are serious chronic defects such as traumatic brain damage, birth defects, spinal code injury due to accidents or substance abuse that can deem an individual disabled from carrying out an activity and be in need of assistance from a caregiver who in most cases turns out to be the closest partner then.
Caregiver and Patient
A mother diagnosed with breast cancer is the patient of interest in this study who is receiving care from a husband. The mother of two children aged 5 and seven respectively have just been diagnosed with breast cancer and has been prohibited by the physician from carrying out hard and stressing activities. The husband has to adopt the role of being a mother to the children and a caregiver to the mother who is suffering from breast cancer and has just been restricted from activities which are straining.
The husband is an employee who works as a supervisor in a production company. He is needed to avail his manpower in the place of work every day except the weekend where his expertise in the job has earned him the honor to operate full time in the company. His income is the sole source of aid to fund family needs and pay school fees for their children. The abrupt diagnostic result of a breast cancer in his wife, (the mother of two) is a big challenge since he has to maintain care to the mother who is suffering. The fact that he has a demanding job which is the sole functioning source of financial support to the family, and at the same time, a close individual of more importance to him and the rest of the family members is ailing from a chronic defect, has significantly directed a tough situation to him.
Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts in the breast cells which is mostly found in women but can also develop in men (de Beça et al., 2013). Cancer is the growth of cells without specification, in this case, the breast cells grow uncontrollably forming a mass of cells called a tumor. A cancerous tumor is said to be malignant because it can grow and extend to other parts of the body. Breast cancer is identified through breast lumps felt on touch although some lumps may not be cancer. Some breast lumps are not life threatening but in some instances, the lumps can increase susceptibility to contracting breast cancer. Breast cancer is divided into two the ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma (de Beça et al., 2013). The two types of cells start in the cells lining the milk ducts and the lobules respectively.
An advocate, in this case, is the husband to the woman ailing breast cancer. In this case, an advocate can generally be described as a caregiver whose intent is to provide services to an adult or a child who is experiencing chronic ailment or disability and is willing to voice the patient’s needs to attain both national and international aid to assist the victim. In this case, the husband plays the role of an advocate when he takes the role of caring for cancer-suffering mother and in the process, he has to disclose the challenge at his place of work to acquire leave grant in order to manage the situation effectively.
In this scenario, the nurse can act as an advocate by providing intellectual support through his/her competence in the field, to the husband to boost the husbands level of know how. This will ensure the husband is able to provide quality care to the mother who is suffering from cancer. Both mental and physical support will be of value in this case since the whole revelation came as a surprise which could have caused trauma in both the caregiver and the patient.
Interview
Question:Why does a family caregiver deserve protection?
Answer:Public policy on family care for older adults who are experiencing disabilities has concentrated its interest on the need for a higher recognition and provision of supportive services to the family caregivers. The documentation of this policy intended to enforce equal employment opportunity (Bryant et al., 2016). The withdrawal of equal employment opportunity from the family caregivers can be fatal in that it can put them at the risk of losing their status as trusted workers. This act can threaten their jobs too. This is an indicator of bias to workers who provide care to their disabled family members. To eradicate the bias family caregivers deserve protection.
Question:How is adult care different from childcare?
Answer:What makes care on adults a challenge compared to child care is that it has both the unprecedented onset and unpredictable lifespan. The sudden emergence of a disability on an individual is unplanned for and finds the family members unaware and this makes it more challenging to adapt the new situation. Childcare is short-lived since the developmental changes gradually occur in a child making it capable of handling some activities concerning its welfare with time (Jaffray et al., 2015). Adult care may gradually result from chronic, degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
Question: What is the impact of caregiving on work?
Answer:In almost all instances family caregiving activities result into negative consequences at the place of work. Most family caregivers suffer financial problems since they are forced by the circumstances to abandon their labor and provide care to the close family individuals who need close supervision and assistance. In most cases, the family members with elderly responsibilities experience challenges which automatically bring about discrimination of employees (Hepburn et al., 2015). Some of the effects associated with adult care that leads to employees being discriminated include late arrival in places of work, leaving early from the job, absenteeism and long hours of care to the victims than in the place of work.
Question:What does Family Responsibilities Discrimination stand for?
Answer:Family responsibilities discrimination generally covers the discrimination against individuals caring for children, adults or ill and disabled family members (Bryant, 2016). In this aspect, the family caregivers receive less favorable treatment than other employees because it is assumed they strongly build on the family obligations and fail to commit themselves to their jobs. An example of an FRD is a situation where an employee is fired for requesting a leave to have time to care for their chronically ill mother. Some FRD situations outlined on reality is where an employee is rendered lazy and later fired for taking a leave to care for their ill mother whose condition is fatal.
Health Care Personnel Associated with Cancer Care
There is a variety medical professionals who can be involved in cancer care, and in the case of the breast cancer being suffered by the woman they can play a crucial role. These professionals include: anesthesiologist who is a doctor specialized in administering drugs and other agents that relieve an individual from pain, often used during surgery; case manager who is a professional mandated in the cancer care team to coordinate the patient’s care during diagnosis, treatment, and recovery; chaplain who is a clergy member who is required to attend to spiritual needs of both the family and the patient; dietitian whose area of expertise is nutrition, food and diet (Luckett et al., 2013).
Resources available to aid the caregiver
Financial stability of the family is the immediate resource that is available to help the caregiver manage other arising stressors and challenges. Transportation means are available in the family and can help reach the patient to the hospital in breakdown situations. These are the most immediate resources of importance present to in the family. The caregiver is armed with the most important resources where he can easily fund a medication for the patient.

Conclusion
From the information disclosed caregivers spend substantial time with the patients. Family caregivers are subject to significant number negative impacts as compared to the positive impacts. Negative impacts are well disclosed in the cases of FRD and financial challenges experienced. These are a result of spending much time with the patients rather than in the job.

References
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De Beça, F. F., Caetano, P., Gerhard, R., Alvarenga, C. A., Gomes, M., Paredes, J., & Schmitt, F. (2013). Cancer stem cells markers CD44, CD24 and ALDH1 in breast cancer special histological types. Journal of clinical pathology, 66(3), 187-191.
Hepburn, C. M., Cohen, E., Bhawra, J., Weiser, N., Hayeems, R. Z., & Guttmann, A. (2015). Health system strategies supporting the transition to adult care. Archives of disease in childhood, 100(6), 559-564.
Jaffray, L., Bridgman, H., Stephens, M., & Skinner, T. (2015). Evaluating the effects of mindfulness-based interventions for informal palliative caregivers: A systematic literature review. Palliative medicine, 0269216315600331.
Lopez-Hartmann, M., Wens, J., Verhoeven, V., & Remmen, R. (2012). The effect of caregiver support interventions for informal caregivers of community-dwelling frail elderly: a systematic review. Int J Integr Care, 12(5), 133.
Luckett, T., Davidson, P. M., Green, A., Boyle, F., Stubbs, J., & Lovell, M. (2013). Assessment and management of adult cancer pain: a systematic review and synthesis of recent qualitative studies aimed at developing insights for managing barriers and optimizing facilitators within a comprehensive framework of patient care. Journal of pain and symptom management, 46(2), 229-253.