Families invited to Free Webinar and Live Event - November 8 - Free CEU for CCMC, NURSE AND SOCIAL WORK

Free CEU Seminar & Networking Reception
Empowering Caregivers of Dementia Patients on Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Viki Kind - Author of The Caregiver’s Path to Compassionate Decision Making - Making Choices for Those Who Can’t
5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. EST

or Join via Webinar
RSVP Today at SeniorBridge.com/Seminar - Program Starts at 6:00 p.m. EST

Join Us In-Person at SeniorBridge
845 Third Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Wine & Appetizer Reception Starts at 5:30 p.m.

Adults age 85+ are the fastest growing segment of our population - and half of them have Alzheimer’s. This seminar
will help professionals and families struggling to make decisions for those without capacity develop a pathway,
framework and tools for making thoughtful, ethical decisions. These tools are designed to be tailored to individual levels of incapacity and situations and to give voice to those who can’t speak for themselves. Respect and compassion will be the core values of this decision making process.

CCMC, NURSE AND SOCIAL WORK CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS PROVIDED BY SENIORBRIDGE*
Nurse contact hours pending by State of Florida Nursing Board for RN, ARNP, CNS, LPN. Social Work credits
pending by State of Florida Social Work Board for LCSW, LMFT, LMHC.
CCMC credits pending by the Commission for Case Manager Certification.
*Professionals should confirm acceptance of CCMC & Florida State approved CEUs with their licensing board.
For more information, email webinars@SeniorBridge.com or call 212-994-6153

Have a kind and respectful day.

Join me in Portland on June 30th - Sponsored by AARP, Multnomah County Family Caregiver Support and Providence Home Services

AARP, Multnomah County Family Caregiver Support and Providence Home Services invite you to attend the program:

“Empowering Caregivers Who Have to Make Difficult Choices”
Thursday, June 30th
7:00 pm
Providence Cancer Center Auditorium
4805 NE Glisan—Portland
Doors open at 6:30 - Lecture begins at 7PM
The event is free, but space is limited. Please rsvp to:
http://aarpor-empowering-caregivers.eventbrite.com/
or call 503-988-3646

Linda Leon will be interviewing Viki on April 7 - 9:30 a.m. PDT - Book That Author on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/book-that-author

April 7 - 9:30 a.m. PDT - Book That Author on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/book-that-author

Media and print producer Linda Leon who hosts Book That Author - a talk show devoted to authors, editors and other book professionals in the writing industry to display their talent, skill, insider information and love for the craft. Linda’s background is in commercial broadcast television. During her 12 years in the industry she hosted and produced several programs which have aired nationally and internationally. She also spent 7 years producing radio broadcasts for an international market. Linda currently owns a video production and author services business. Where she guides independent authors on publishing, publicity and distribution. She also works with them to create infomercials, commercials and trailers to promote their books. She is the author of several books and will be launching her new book Publishing and PR Business For Smart People in 2011. Linda is always busy with her writers group at bookprofessionals.ning.com

Have a kind and respectful day.

Caregiver Resource Day at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center on March 19 from 8:30-1

Caregiver Resource Day

Viki will be speaking at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center’s annual event which provides support, education, and resources to caregivers – will be held on Saturday, March 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Senior Center, located at 22900 Market Street in Santa Clarita. With its title sponsor Comfort Keepers In-Home Care, the free symposium will provide information and advice from leading experts, including a noted Alzheimer’s researcher and a bioethecist. Registration, networking, and breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m. with lectures commencing at 9 a.m. Free adult day care is available during this event but requires advance registration. The event is open to community members 18 years of age and older. Care-giving-related businesses are invited to host vendor tables at the event and/or provide sponsorship.

For further information about Caregiver Resource Day please contact SuzAnn Nelsen or Diana Sevanian at 661-255-1588. You may also email them at snelsen@scvsc.org or dsevanian@scvsc.org.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Pasadena Highlands - Grand Opening of Focused Care - dedicated to residents needing memory care

Join me as I will be speaking at the Grand Opening of Focused Care - Pasadena Highland’s memory care center on March 11 from 3:30-4:30. Open House from 3-6.

Pasadena Highlands is excited to announce the opening of a secure Alzheimer’s/Memory Care unit that will accommodate about 15-18 residents. Focused Care is all inclusive and the rates will be $4500 to $6000 per month.

Friday, March 11, 3pm to 6pm

Viki Kind will be speaking on “Empowered Decision Making for those with Dementia” 3:30pm – 4:30pm

Please RSVP by March 8th, (626) 791-1981

(626) 791-1981

Pasadena Highlands

1575 E. Washington Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91104

Have a kind and respectful day.

Join Viki as she speaks at the South Bay M.A.P.S. meeting at Silverado Senior Living in Redondo Beach, on March 8 from 8:30-10:30AM PST.

Join Viki as she speaks at the South Bay M.A.P.S. meeting at Silverado Senior Living in Redondo Beach, on March 8 from 8:30-10:30AM PST.

Silverado Senior Living -Assisted Living Dementia Care in Redondo Beach
514 N. Prospect Ave.
Redondo Beach 90277
http://www.silveradosenior.com/dementia_care/LA_Ventura_County_CA/zip_90277/silverado_senior_living/2568
Phone 310-421-4867

Silverado Senior Living -Move your loved one into our Redondo Beach Assisted Living Dementia Care Community located on the campus of the Beach Cities Health District, a preventive health and wellness agency. This three-story, state-of-the-art community offers all of the trademark amenities and services that have made Silverado famous for providing exceptional, world-class care in beautiful surroundings. Like all Silverado communities, Beach Cities is a secure environment specializing in caring for those with any type of memory loss.

When you look for a senior care community to take care of your loved one with dementia, it is important to consider if their health needs will be taken care of by qualified staff. At Silverado Senior Living - Beach Cities, we believe in hiring the best! We have registered nurses and licensed nurses at our community in Redondo Beach just like every other Silverado community. All of our caregivers receive extensive training on how to provide special care for those with memory-impairing conditions. Our caregiving and nursing staff will support your loved one to enjoy the best of health every day, while giving our families peace of mind.

Have a kind and respectful day.

When there is no good answer - Turning a difficult decision into a better quality of life

Every day, caregivers are faced with painful choices. The other day, a man shared with me that he had promised his mom that he would never put her in a nursing home. But now she needed more care than he could provide. Just this week, she had started a fire in the kitchen. He didn’t want to break his promise but he couldn’t protect her from herself.

This type of situation can be so painful. We want to do the right thing, but sometimes it becomes impossible. I explained to him that even though he had made a promise, he couldn’t stand by and let his mom be in harm’s way. He hadn’t known what the future would hold when he made that promise. I explained to him that as caregivers, we have a responsibility to step in and to make sure the person is safe.

I encouraged him to do what he could to keep her at home. Perhaps he could hire more help or make the house safer. But if those options didn’t work, he had to forgive himself and do the right thing to find a good care facility. This doesn’t mean he won’t feel badly about going back on his word. This is the hard road of caregiving.

Choosing the Least Worst Option

What often helps caregivers making the tough decisions is to realize that sometimes we have to pick the “least worst option.” What does this mean? It means we don’t always get a “good answer” or a “good choice” when making a decision. The only choice may be to pick the least terrible option, because that is the best option available.

Of course, caregivers should work hard to determine if there are any better options available, asking other people for help as they research their choices. But if the only option is one that is less than optimal, we will need to make peace with the situation by doing our best to make a bad situation a little better.

Creating a Better Quality of Life

When the “best” choice isn’t available, we can still make the decision better. As you evaluate the options, think about how your decision will be experienced by the person in your care. What will it feel like to move to a new place? What will it be like to go through a medical test or procedure? How will the decision be perceived through the mind of someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia?

For the gentleman who now needs to place his mom in a memory care unit, he will need to look at the places that are available, to consider what his mom can afford and to make sure the place will meet his mom’s needs. He will also have to look at how he can make the transition easier on his mom. What can he do to make her feel safer when she moves there? How can he bring joy and comfort to her when he visits? What can he do to improve the quality of her life, even though this is not the kind of life she would have wanted? Even though his mom would never have wanted to move out of her home, her son can make each day a little better for her. This is called person-centered care—when we think about how our choices will be experienced by the individual in our care.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Caregiving for Seniors 2011 Conference on Saturday, January 22, 2011 @ Melbourne Hilton Rialto - 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Caregiving for Seniors 2011 Conference on Saturday, January 22, 2011 @ Melbourne Hilton Rialto - 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Thanks to the many generous community sponsors of this event,
there is no charge to Family Caregivers!

Conference Keynote:
Teena Cahill, Psy.D - Nationally acclaimed Speaker, Humorist, Author and TV and Radio Show Host will present “Nurturing the Nurturers.” Her audiences are inspired, motivated, and armed with ideas for managing stress without distress, and enhancing innate resilience to bounce back from adversity.
• Empowering Caregivers to Make Difficult Choices, Viki Kind, MA author of The Caregiver’s Path to Compassionate Decision Making ~ Making Choices For Those Who Can’t
• Caregiver Essentials – our panel of experts representing the Medical, Legal and Social Work Professions will field your questions
• Following your complimentary lunch, enjoy dessert with Dr. Rosemary Laird, Medical Director, Health First Aging Institute, author of “Take Your Oxygen First”
• Valuable Community Resources and Connections to Other Caregivers

Have a kind and respectful day.

Improving the Medical Experience of the Person struggling with Alzheimer’s or other memory loss

When a person with Alzheimer’s or dementia is going to have a medical test or procedure, how can we help the person to feel less frightened and to minimize any suffering? If the patient is struggling to understand what will be happening to them, do a practice run-through and show the person the room where the test will happen. Or find a book with pictures that will help him understand what you are talking about. If the person with diminished capacity is afraid of being alone, you may want to introduce him to the nurses who will be working that day. For my dad, we tape-recorded the doctor’s explanations so he could listen to the information over and over again until he felt more comfortable.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the patient may be experiencing symptoms that affect his or her participation. These symptoms could be pain, side effects of medications, loss of hearing or sight, lack of sleep, an undiagnosed illness and grief, to name a few. Find out what can be done to relieve these symptoms to make it easier for the individual to participate in the process. Ultimately, our goal is to think about the quality-of-life questions from the person’s perspective as he or she will experience the consequences of our decisions.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Classic Residence of Pompano Beach will be hosting a lecture by Viki Kind “Empowering Caregivers to Make the Best Decisions” on January 20, 2011, 11- 1:30

Classic Residence of Pompano Beach will be hosting a lecture by Viki Kind “Empowering Caregivers to Make the Best Decisions” on January 20, 2011, 11-1:30. RSVP to make your lunch reservation.

1371 South Ocean Beach
Pompano Beach, FL 33062
Tel: 888-494-2177
E-mail: mktgpompanobeach@viliving.com
Web site: www.viliving.com/communities/pompanobeach

For residents of Classic Residence, exceptional amenities and services are not considered extras. Whether you are savoring a freshly prepared meal prepared by our executive chef, taking a swim in the pool, dining with friends in the penthouse dining room or enjoying the music in our piano lounge, our amenities and services are included to enrich your life every day.

Just Steps from Your Door
Art studio
Auditorium
Boat dock
Club-style dining room
Computer center with high-speed Internet access
Fitness center
Heated pool, whirlpool and sundeck
Library
Ocean and beach access
Piano lounge and dance floor
Picnic area
Private dining room for entertaining family and friends
Wellness center

We Take Care of the Details
Concierge assistance
Access to health care resources at the on-site wellness center
Maintenance of home, buildings and grounds
Move-in coordination
Physician referral services
Scheduled transportation for community-sponsored trips and outings
Weekly laundering of bed linens
Weekly light housekeeping

Many additional services, such as a salon, dry cleaning pickup and drop-off, and guest accommodations/meals are available at an additional charge.

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