Home Health Caregivers Recognized in National Caregiver Month

Lancaster, PA (PRWEB) November 30, 2007 -- November marks National Caregiver Month and the first "Health and Humor" presentation to home health staff as part of a new "Caring for Caregivers" initiative, sponsored by Thornberry Ltd, a developer of home health management software.

Thornberry's Health and Humor Ambassador Larry Brennan, RN addressed caregivers at Twin Tier Home Health agency in Binghamton, NY, delivering "Health and Humor 101 for Home Care" training course. Twin Tier was the first agency to request and be selected to have nursing and humor veteran Larry Brennan and his "vent" Charlie work with clinical staff to reduce stress and put the focus on their own health.

In December the pair will visit Essex County Home Care in Massachusetts followed by Panhandle Health Care in Texas in January 2008, where they will deliver the same message to homecare staff, and thereafter at a different agency or hospice each month. The ongoing Caring for Caregivers program, funded by Thornberry, is about giving back to the industry it serves, said customer relations manager Linda Peth.

"The Caring Caregivers training programs are designed to keep caregivers doing the important work they do. In order for them to be there for others they need to take care of themselves," said Peth.

Not taking oneself too seriously is an important point in preventing burnout, says Larry Brennan. "Nurse and other caregivers have a serious job, but they're human like everyone else and sometimes they need to be reminded about the power of humor in coping in the high-stress health care environment," said Brennan.

Learning the necessary survival skills to stay healthy helps both individual caregivers as well as the agencies and hospices where they work, said Brennan. "There is a much greater awareness of the need for work/life balance improvements, greater use of flex-time and bringing in per-diem agency nurses to try and compensate for staff shortages and limit overtime demands on fulltime caregivers. The fact remains however that caregivers have a lot of responsibility and a lot of restraints and frustrations in their job," he said.

"Learning how to stop and recognize stress and do something about it, and learning how to create groups of people that are energized, and that include the patient as part of the team, is vital to prevent illness and burnout."

"The correlation between humor and its healthful effect is well documented as is the correlation between stress and negative health impacts, both physical and mental. Laughter stimulates the immune system, off-setting the immunosuppressive effects of stress. Well functioning teams with good support and communication and that employ humor, help prevent burnout."

Burnout, according to Larry Brennan, can be manifested when support systems fail. "The signs are numerous and obvious. Changes in personality, depression, increases in sick leave, withdrawal. We must be able to recognize it in ourselves and for a colleague, and offer our support or guide them to the necessary support."

"The Caring for Caregivers trainings help caregivers to do a stress check on themselves and their team, to refocus, and to use what they already know. The programs are designed to stimulate, motivate and celebrate the important work they do while building team harmony and enjoying the harmony of laughter."

Individual caregivers or agency and hospice personnel can apply to receive a Caring for Caregivers training presentation on the Thornberry web site (www.thornberryltd.com), by clicking on the Humor Me navigation link. Applicants can choose from a range of presentation topics.

About Thornberry

Thornberry Ltd., based in Lancaster PA, is developer and marketer of intelligent, leading-edge management information systems for the home healthcare and hospice industry. With a heritage of offering customer-centric solutions since 1992, Thornberry and its best-in-breed technology partners are dedicated to building home health care management software solutions that solve real problems and ready homecare agencies for the introduction of universal electronic records and regional health information organizations (RHIOs). Thornberry solutions are designed by end users as well as information systems professionals and solidly user-tested and approved to readily match users needs. For more information visit www.thornberryltd.com

For more information:

Tom Peth

Thornberry Ltd

717- 431-3070

tomp @ thornberryltd.com

###