 Family Caregiver Alliance | National Center on Caregiving |
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Caregiver tool for state-by-state resources
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 For over 35 years FCA has led the way in supporting family caregivers. Your donation makes all the difference!
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Editors
Calvin Hu
Michelle Venegas
Contributors
Kathleen Kelly
Calvin Hu
Lana Sheridan
Michelle Venegas
Leah Eskenazi
Communications
and Layout
Francesca Pera
Executive Director
Kathleen Kelly
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President
Jacquelyn Kung
Vice-President
Dan Lieberman
Treasurer
Jeff Kumataka
Athan Bezaitis
Wanda Borges
Herman S. Brown
Ping Hao
Catherine Lelong
Michael Malewicz
Rajiv Mehta
Chris Park
Kathleen Raffel
F. Burns Vick
Debbie Wolter
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 Family Caregiver Alliance's new fee-for-service care management currently serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Click here for further information. |
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Vol. 6, No. 10
October 15, 2015
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Dear Friends:
Fall is here, and the holidays are right around the comer. Before things get even more hectic, some quick tips for you:
- Get educated about your loved one's disease. Being knowledgeable about their condition and their progression will help you plan for the future and know what to expect.
- Get help from community resources and friends. Let them take some of the weight of caregiving off your shoulders. Ask for help and accept it when offered.
- Take regular breaks from caregiving. Relax and try not to ignore your own health. You have a tough job to do, be in the best physical and mental condition possible.
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"Three Rules of Work:
Out of clutter find simplicity.
From discord find harmony.
In the middle of difficulty
--Albert Einstein
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Looking for Family Caregivers to Help FCA Shape New Service Product
Family Caregiver Alliance is developing a new online application for family caregivers and needs a panel of expert family caregiver advisers to help test questionnaires and functions within the platform. You will be helping us shape our new service offering by providing feedback to improve our services for future caregivers. Aside from our abundant gratitude, you will also receive a $40 gift card to Target for your time and effort.
We need 20 participants who are currently providing assistance to an adult with physical and/or cognitive disabilities living in the community. Participants can be from the San Francisco Bay Area or across the U.S. The questionnaire you will be testing asks about you, the caregiver, and your care planning, direct care and self-care needs relating to providing care to your relative, partner or friend. We expect testing to begin in December and last into January. We estimate that it will take 60 to 90 minutes to complete our questionnaires and provide feedback.
If you are interested, please go to our brief application so we have your contact information for follow up when testing begins. All information is confidential and will not be shared beyond the extent needed to make quality improvements in our service product.
Thank you for your interest - we hope you join us in improving our next generation of service delivery! Please click here for the product testing application so we can follow up with you as the testing period draws closer.
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Informal survey on caregiver perceptions
 FCA's board of directors recently conducted a short informal survey on caregiver perceptions. The graphic represents answers to the question: What are the first three words that come to mind when you hear "caregiver?"
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What Every Caregiver Needs to Know About Money
When you become a caregiver for someone, money plays an important part in the choices you make about their care. To learn more about money and caregiving, please read our fact sheet.
Image: By michael kooiman (originally posted to Flickr as sweet success) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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Incontinence (for dementia)
One of the most vexing challenges that dementia caregivers face is care receiver incontinence. Please read our tip sheet for advice on how to manage incontinence.
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Challenges of Aging and Caregiving in the LGBT Community: a Guide for Providers and Professionals
In this webinar, we will discuss some of the important issues/challenges of LGBT aging and caregiving related to financial security, healthcare, and autonomy. We will offer guidance on how service providers can employ more sensitive language when asking clients personal questions and recognize that caregivers of LGBT older adults can be friends, neighbors, and families of choice.
Many LGBT seniors live with the trauma of rejection from family and society. It is important for service providers to understand the challenges faced by LGBT caregivers, and to insure a welcoming safe space is provided. Please join us in understanding the needs of LGBT older adults and the unique issues of LGBT caregiving.
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The Five Most Unexpected Challenges Of Caregiving
The physicality of caregiving, the expense, and the lack of support, are just some issues that face new caregivers. Read about these and other surprising issues faced by caregivers in a blog in the Huffington Post.
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How to Find the Joy in Caregiving
Despite the great strain that caregiving can bring about, there can also be moments of levity and humor. Brenda Avadian shares some personal examples of joy in caregiving in an article for U.S. News & World Report.
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CAREGIVERS CONNECT: SF BAY AREA EVENTS
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Improving Care at Home: Challenges and Opportunities
Join the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions for a special conference on how health professionals can support family caregivers. Unpaid and low-paid caregivers provide up to 90% of the care provided to people who are ill and disabled, but living at home. This conference seeks to educate health professionals on how to support these "invisible" members of the healthcare team. You will learn about the diverse demographic characteristics of caregivers, identify opportunities for improving training and support, understand which new technologies might be used to assist home caregiving, and learn steps service providers can use to work more effectively with unpaid caregivers. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. When: Saturday, October 24, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Where: University of San Francisco -- Fromm Hall, 2497 Golden Gate Avenue,
San Francisco 94118
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It Takes Two! A Refreshing Approach to Understanding and Coping with Dementia Behavior
This four week class offers new skills and tools for family caregivers who care for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, or related dementias. In It Takes Two, you will: learn more about your relative 's ability to understand and communicate, learn new skills to handle troubling behavior, and feel more confident and positive about your caregiving role.
This four part class meets on four consecutive Thursdays starting October 29. You will need to be able to attend all four sessions. When: Four Thursdays, starting October 29, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Where: San Leandro Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th Street, San Leandro 94578 Cost: free Instructor: Jo McCord, M.A., Family Consultant, Family Caregiver Alliance
Registration: Calvin Hu, (415) 434-3388 ext. 313 (please leave a message with your name, number, and the name of this class) Link: click here |
Caregiver College 
Caregiver College is a free class where you will learn the skills to make you a more confident and capable caregiver. Topics include: caregiver self-care, transfer skills, dental care, nutrition, toileting, bathing and dressing. Lunch will be provided.
Please note: the class is free, but only open to residents of San Mateo County.
When: Saturday, November 21, 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Silverado Belmont Hills Memory Care Community, 1301 Ralston Avenue, Belmont 94002
Cost: free, open to residents of San Mateo County
Registration: Calvin Hu, (415) 434-3388 ext. 313
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CAREGIVERS CONNECT: SF BAY AREA PARTNER EVENTS
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Arts Café: A Program for Individuals with Memory Loss
As part of our ongoing commitment to create access to the arts for visitors of all ages and abilities, The Contemporary Jewish Museum (The CJM) is offering ongoing programs for older adults and seniors to engage in creative lifelong learning.
Join this interactive program designed for individuals with early-stage Alzheimer's and their care partners. Includes a guided tour of NEAT: New Experiments in Art and Technology and art studio time where participants engage with art and each other through stimulating discussions. |
Get the BEST Healthcare: Tips to Empower Patients and Caregivers
What do insiders know about how to get the best medical care with the fewest hassles? Find out at a free talk at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Francisco. You will hear practical ways to improve interactions with the healthcare system, whether in the hospital or in the doctor's office. Tips provided by Patient Navigator Eve Harris and Patient Advocate Julia Hallisy, DDS will help caregivers and patients alike learn how to: save time setting up routine appointments, find the right person to help when you're in the hospital, and manage medical information for yourself and your family. This workshop is free but seating is limited. When: Thursday, October 29, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Where: University of California San Francisco -- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Third Floor, 1600 Dividadero Street, San Francisco 94115
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Annual Alzheimer's Disease Circle of Care Conference
This annual education conference is designed to fit the needs of families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. It is also for professionals who would like to learn more about Alzheimer's disease, the challenges and hope for the future. Topics include: Technology Tools for Family Caregivers, Successful Strategies for Addressing Sleep Challenges in Dementia, Avoiding Crises in Dementia, Increasing Happiness & Quality of Life Despite Life's Challenges, and more. When: Saturday, November 14, 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1221 Chess Drive, Foster City 94404
Cost: $50 general admission, $90 for professionals Registration: click here
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OUR SUPPORTERS: THANK YOU!
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We would like to take a moment to extend a warm thank you to the many generous supporters who make the work we do possible through thoughtful donations to Family Caregiver Alliance.
View a list of our current donors here.
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For over 35 years FCA has led the way in supporting family caregivers. Your donation makes all the difference!
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Copyright © 2015 Family Caregiver Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
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