Last week, I watched the PBS documentary “Caring for your Parents.” It followed five families as they struggled through the complexity of shifting caregiving roles, working with area long-term care professionals, and feelings of anger and resentment against other family members who were not involved with their elderly loved ones’ care.

Watching this documentary reminded me about the immensity of our job, as caregivers.

If you think about it, we’ve learned so much about our parents’ different medications and what questions we should be asking their doctors. Should we discontinue their Vytorin based on recent reports about serious side effects? Should we increase their Lorazepam from once a day to twice or day?

We’ve learned to read our parents’ body language, if they’re not able to express their wishes, desires, or their level of pain.

We’re managing a mini corporation of home health care aides, visiting nurses, physical and occupational therapists, home visiting physicians, and geriatric care managers.

We’ve learned to strategize our personal and/or vacation days, so we could use these days to drive and accompany our parents to their doctors’ appointments.

We’ve discovered that some area assisted living or long-term care communities are often short-staffed over the weekends or during the holidays, so we find ourselves spending in excess of eight hours a day at these communities to ensure that our parents are fed and toileted.

We find that we’re constantly on the go, and in between cooking dinner for our own families and doing the laundry, we may sleep for four hours or less. Other siblings or family members may help as much as they can, but the main caregiving burden has fallen on your shoulders.

How about you?

When the attorney (with whom I work) and I meet with new clients in our office, we acknowledge and recognize that the most important person in the room is the caregiver. Because without you, your elderly loved one may need a higher level of care outside of the home. And if your health begins or continues to decline, where would your loved one be?

You deserve a forum in which you could express your anger and resentment without being judged. You have the right to share your struggles with other caregivers and learn from each other’s experiences.

The Betty and Milton Katz Jewish Community Center (JCC) at 1301 Springdale Road in Cherry Hill is running a caregiver’s support group on Wednesday mornings, 10:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m., from May 7 through May 28, 2008. The cost is $20 a person for JCC members and $40 a person for non-members. This caregiver support group is open to the whole community, and the center will be providing care for your loved one while you attend the support group. Contact Sharon Singer, LCSW at 856-424-4444 ext. 228 for more information.

The Tender, Inc. at 16 East Main Street in Moorestown facilitates a monthly caregiver support group on the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at their facility. This group is free to all participants and offers an opportunity to exchange information with other caregivers. Contact Barbara Fetty at 856-234-6661 for more information.

Don’t forget about reaching out to your local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association at 1-800-272-3900 (the hotline is available 24 hours, seven days a week) or log on to http://www.alz.org/desjsepa/ to find out more information about area caregiving support groups.