The Fundamental Concepts of Caregiving: Caregiving is More Than a Career; It Is a Process of Building a Relationship, by Murphy V. S. Anderson. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2024. 254 pp. $31.00.
Murphy Anderson is the CEO of Save Hands Community Living, a supported living agency. He has been a caregiver for more than twenty-four years. His field experience includes work as a case manager with Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services in Ohio. He is also a former programs director for the Association of Liberian Lutherans in the Americas (ALLIA) and a former chairman of the board of directors of Liberians in Columbus Inc (LICI).
We are in a care crisis that is getting exponentially worse. It affects our homes, churches, and societies. The author cites former First Lady Rosalyn Carter who famously said, “There are four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who need caregivers.” Anderson writes for executives of provider agencies, directors of home health care agencies, direct support employees, and care recipients and their family members.
Using data-based arguments the author aims to describe the current care shortage in America and other countries as well as the implications it has for current and future care quality. His primary concern is to prioritize relationship building between care recipient and caregiver. He believes that close trusting relationships are lacking in our care systems due to over-professionalizing care. For those considering care as a career he appeals to their commitment and love for humanity. His refreshing insights offer hope for a system that has run short of committed workers. And the future looks exponentially worse.
What is an example of suffering from understaffing? Care needs for the elderly are raging toward unprecedented rates. The United Nations Population Division estimates that the number of persons aged 65+ is expected to double over the next three decades, so that by 2050 the global population 65+ will be over 20 percent. As a result, the need for care will double. Families that make up the church as well as the church itself will need to respond. This will not be easy. But there are other emerging patterns: Around 1 in 6 people 60+ experienced some form of abuse in community settings during the past year (available online at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/abuse-of-older-people, accessed 13 June 2024). Not only will the need for care increase, so will be the problems accompanying care, in particular, elderly abuse.
The author maintains that the need for good care is a call to maintain good motives. He argues that personal relationships are the key to good motives and good care.
Caregiving transcends the desire to only make money; it involves an interest in rendering services and caring for those in need, regardless of the compensation received in return. Caregiving is personal and may also be spiritual. It is more than a career; it is a process or a desire to develop and maintain an ethical, professional working relationship with a care recipient (x).
This review recommends the book for anyone currently leading or interested in joining caregiving work. The book could also make a good textbook for a class on care.
