2010 Memory Walk – Los Angeles, CA November 7, 2010

Viki will be exhibiting at the 2010 Memory Walk – Los Angeles benefiting the Alzheimer’s Association on Sunday, November 7, 2010.

The Memory Walk is a 5K Walk at Century Park, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA starting at 7am PST. When you register for the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®, you’re joining a nationwide community of thousands of people who are standing up and participating in the fight against this devastating disease.

Memory Walk is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research. Since 1989, Memory Walk has raised more than $300 million for the cause.

All Memory Walk donations benefit the Alzheimer’s Association, the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. The mission of the Alzheimer’s Association is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

They provide services to those affected by Alzheimer’s; advocate for policy change and research funding; and advance research toward prevention, brain health treatment and a cure. Their organization has offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and chapter affiliates nationwide that serve the needs of those living with Alzheimer’s every day. Their vision is a world without Alzheimer’s disease.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Interview with Pamilla DeLeon-Lewis, “Empowering Women with Breast Cancer,” on Oct. 27, 1PM Pacific

Interview with Pamilla DeLeon-Lewis, “Empowering Women with Breast Cancer,” on Oct. 27, 1PM Pacific – blogtalkradio.com/kindethics

This will be an amazing interview with an amazing woman. She is one of my heroes.

http://www.pamilladeleon-lewis.com

Pamilla is the CEO/Founder of the Caribbean American Breast Cancer Organization (CabcoUSA) and she wears several hats. This quintessential woman is the daughter of the late great award winning calypso legend, Rafael deLeon aka The Roaring Lion. She is a breast cancer survivor and an award winning poet and author, and the ‘Woman of the Year 2006;’ she is on the Board of Advisors at SUNY Downstate Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, and is dedicating her efforts to empower the Caribbean and African American Community in its fight against cancer.Through her confrontational poetry, her songwriting, her motivational speaking, and through media she boldly challenges the enemy, by literally laughing at cancer daily. Chuckling Choonks is a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher affiliated with Dr. Madan Kataria’s School of Laughter Yoga and a Certified Coach Practitioner.
This breast cancer activist is also a Brooklyn Team Leader of the Legislative Ambassador for the American Cancer Society.

She has two books available. Her recent book, “Side Effects – The Untold Story,” is available on Amazon. For more information go to www.pamilladeleonlewis.com. Her award winning Book of the Year- 2005 is a Life-affirming triumph over breast cancer chronicled ” Smiling Thru the Tears: A Breast Cancer Survivor Odyssey” By Pamela deLeon-Lewis

ISBN: 1413770703 PublishAmerica Smiling

Thru the Tears is a collection of over 100 poems documenting Pamela deLeon-Lewis’ journey through, and eventual triumph over, breast cancer. If the cover, which shows a smiling and radiantly healthy-looking young woman is any indication, she’s doing well. Indeed, one is startled to learn, through these poems, that deLeon-Lewis is in her 50s, and a grandmother. The cycle begins with intimations of wrongness as the poet attributes the beginning of her cancer to her father’s death and the stress of 9/1 1 which sent her career as a consultant into disarray. She even dreams of being told she has cancer. Yet, when the news comes in real life, it’s a shocker. She writes in “Dream Becomes Reality”: “I knew there was something wrong; Daily the signs were getting so strong.” The resulting poems confirm and reaffirm her absolute faith in God. Some of them read like prayers or Psalms. A series of wonderfully angry poems shout her defiance in the face of life-threatening illness, as in the lines of “I’ll Stand Tall”: “But I refuse to stoop to you. You can’t conquer me at all.” She refers to the cancer itself as DeMon, a play, one guesses, on “demon” and “The Man,” the oppressor, the thing that’s out to do her in. There are homages to friends, to the “Chemo Squad” and the “Radiation Squad.” Yet while she lauds the help of her squads, she doesn’t spare the reader the agony of her treatment: “I had sores in my mouth; I couldn’t eat. Pains in my legs, my feet, and my hands; I had pains in my eyes, pains in my head. So much pain it was blowing my mind,” (from “I Remember … Part I.”)

There are poems of gratitude for the medical team that helped her, her daughters, her grandchildren, her aunties, her mother, her dead father, her neighbor, her younger daughter’s babysitter, the folks in a cancer support chatroom, Oprah Winfrey (“Ms. Oprah Winfrey is positively the world’s greatest incentive for me”) and even a stranger who smiles at her on the street, and poems. There are poems that remind the reader that the aftermath of even a successful battle against breast cancer is hard. She still has pain, she can’t lift her right arm, and the treatment even damaged her brain. Some poems contemplate what it’s like to have one’s right breast amputated (she used to refer to her breast as “lost”). When we learn that the doctors have found a calcification in her left breast, the suspense is comparable to anything in a murder mystery novel. Our relief when we find out that all is well is thorough. The book ends with a poem by her grandson, Jahlani Andrew Roberts: “I am happy to say she is now Cancer Free!!! Now she has time to hang with me.” Smiling Thru Tears is a triumphant, life-affirming book.

Viki will be presenting at the WRC-NAPGCM Conference on 10/16/10 from 10-11:15am PST in Costa Mesa, CA

Viki will be presenting at the WRC-NAPGCM 20th Annual Conference on 10/16/10 from 10-11:15am PST at The Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA.

The 20th Annual WRC-NAPGCM (Western Region Geriatric Care Management)  “Professionalism & Excellence: Navigating the Course” Conference will be held October 14-17, 2010 in Costa Mesa, CA.  In addition to great networking, many opportunities to visit with exhibitors and dynamic general sessions, they will be offering a total of 15 incredible breakout sessions with clinical, business and legal/ethical sessions offered at each time.

A Geriatric Care Manager is a health and human services professional, such as a gerontologist, nurse, social worker, or counselor, with a specialized body of knowledge and experience related to aging and elder care issues.

A Professional Geriatric Care Manager (PGCM) is a member of the National GCM Association and has committed to adhering to the GCM Pledge of Ethics and Standards of Practice. The PGCM assists older adults and persons with disabilities in attaining their maximum functional potential. The PGCM strives to respect the autonomy of the individual and delivers care coordination and support services with sensitivity to preserve the dignity and respect of each individual. In addition, the PGCM is an experienced guide and resource for families of older adults and others with chronic needs.

Professional Geriatric Care Managers can offer:

Evaluations to identify problems, eligibility for assistance and need for services.
Personalized services specifically to meet the client’s wants and needs, including information referral and placement in facilities. Customized care plans are designed to institute the appropriate services.
Counseling and support to seniors and their families.
Liaison assistance for families at a distance.
Accessibility since many GCM members are available after hours and on weekends.
Continuity of care management to reduce miscommunication, time, stress, and costs to clients.
Monitor the quality of services being delivered by service providers such as the health care system.
Efficiency and flexibility because GCM services are streamlined and client-centered, not complicated by bureaucratic red tape.
Cost control. GCM members strive to reduce inappropriate institutional care and overuse of services. They match the service to the client’s needs and help contain costs. Ongoing monitoring can prevent costly crises and unnecessary hospitalizations.
Quality control. GCM has adopted standards for practice for all its members. In addition, all full members are reviewed for educational and experience requirements prior to acceptance into the Association.
Review of financial, legal, or medical issues and offer referrals to geriatric specialists to avoid future problems and conserve assets.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Viki will be presenting at the American Health Care Association Conference on 10/12/10

Viki will be giving a presentation at the American Health Care Association Conference on October 12, 2010 from 8-10am PST.

As the nation’s largest association of long term and post-acute care providers, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) advocates for quality care and services for frail, elderly and disabled Americans. Compassionate and caring employees provide essential care to one million individuals in our 11,000 not-for-profit and proprietary member facilities.

The ultimate focus is on providing quality care to the nation’s frail, elderly and disabled, who are served by the long term care professionals who comprise AHCA’s membership. These providers believe that the individuals whom they serve are entitled to a supportive environment in which professional and compassionate care is delivered. This belief compels AHCA, its affiliates and member providers to advocate for individuals who – because of social needs, disability, trauma or illness – require services provided in a long term care setting, while also advocating for the continuing vitality of long term care provider community.

AHCA believes this necessitates their commitment to developing necessary and reasonable public policies which balance economic and regulatory principles to support quality care and quality of life, and is dedicated to professionalism and ethical behavior among all who provide long term care.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Pacifica Senior Living in Santa Clarita will be hosting a presentation on caregiving on 10/13/10

Pacifica Senior Living in Santa Clarita will be hosting a presentation on caregiving on 10/13/10 from 7-8pm PST.

Pacifica Senior Living is an independent living, assisted living and memory care community in charming Santa Clarita, California.  They offer a variety of studio and one-bedroom apartments.  Staff are available 24 hours a day.

The Memory Care Staff at Pacifica Senior Living Santa Clarita Newhall is trained to provide the services you may need in a supportive environment.

Viki will be presenting at NASW’s CA Annual Conference on 10/9/10

Viki will be presenting “4 Tools to Help Families Making the Difficult Decisions”  at the National Association of Social Workers CA Annual Conference on 10/9/10 from 9-12pm PST

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with 145,000 members.

NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain standards for the profession, and to advance sound social policies. NASW also contributes to the well-being of individuals, families and communities through its work and advocacy.

NASW was founded in 1955 through a merger of seven social work organizations:

• American Association of Social Workers
• American Association of Medical Social Workers
• American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers
• National Association of School Social Workers
• American Association of Group Workers
• Association for the Study of Community Organization
• Social Work Research Group

Have a kind and respectful day.

Mental Illness Awareness Week 2010: October 3-9, 2010 – NAMI is there for you

Mental Illness Awareness Week 2010: October 3-9, 2010

You don’t have to be alone on this journey. Learn more about the full spectrum of programs and services that NAMI provides across the country for people whose lives have been affected by serious mental illness. Go to http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?section=Find_Support
to find the support you need:

• Center for Excellence
The NAMI Center for Excellence team works to provide NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates with the the technical assistance, resources and tools they need to build organizational capacity and achieve the goals of the NAMI Standards of Excellence.
• State and Local NAMIs
NAMI’s 1,200 affiliate organizations provide local services, support and other opportunities for consumers and their families.

• Education, Training and Peer Support Center
NAMI offers an array of education and training programs and services for consumers, family members, providers and the general public. These include Family-to-Family, Peer-to-Peer, NAMI Support Group, In Our Own Voice and more.

• Consumer Support
NAMI empowers and educates mental health consumers to address their issues around care, treatment, services, mutual support and consumer rights.

• Child and Adolescent Action Center
Families know all too well that the system is failing children and adolescents with mental illnesses. NAMI created the Child & Adolescent Action Center in response to this crisis, to focus attention on systems reform and to help and support families.

• NAMI on Campus
NAMI on Campus is a network of student-led mental health awareness, education, and advocacy groups tailored to the needs of individual college communities.

• Multicultural Action Center
The Multicultural Action Center focuses attention on system reform to eliminate disparities in mental health care for diverse communities and cultural competence in treatment and support for all who are affected by serious mental illness.

• NAMI Legal Center
The NAMI Legal Center provides lawyer referrals as a service to our members and the general public.

• Veterans Resource Center
NAMI is proud to provide the following resources for veterans and active duty military members, as well as their families, friends, and advocates.

• Missing Persons Support
Resources and support for locating missing persons with mental illness.

• For Providers
To help mental health professionals assist consumers and families further, NAMI has created this section of the NAMI Web site especially for you.

• Information Helpline
Trained volunteers provide information, referrals, and support to all who have questions about or are affected by serious mental illness. Call 1-800-950-NAMI.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Resident’s Rights Week – October 3-9

Defining Dining…It’s About Me
2010 National Residents’ Rights Week: October 3-9, 2010
For more information and resources: http://www.theconsumervoice.org/resident/nursinghome/residents-rights

By Sarah Wells, Executive Director
The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care (formerly NCCNHR)

Dining is such an integral, systemic function of our lives that, oftentimes, we may forget how lucky we are to enjoy or share a delicious meal. Many of us are accustomed to eating at any time of the day we desire, with the flexibility of choosing to drive to a five-star restaurant or simply to the grocery store to cook our own meals at home. Often we take these simple everyday pleasures for granted. American culture is based largely on socializing with others during meals, and we expect these meals to look and taste good! For me, dining with family and friends is a favorite activity. While I am not a great cook myself, I am the beneficiary of my husband’s and mother’s kitchen magic!

Residents’ Rights Week 2010 reminds us that long-term care residents deserve the same high-quality dining experience to which the rest of us have access. Individual residents in nursing homes, assisted living, and board and care facilities should have the ability to voice their opinions and be heard when choosing what they eat, when they eat, and the atmosphere in which they dine. The dining experience should be a fun celebration of food, friends, culture and life without invoking a sense of dining in an unfriendly, detached institution.

Residents should be given choices about the kinds of food they eat. This can include having a variety of nutritious and culturally diverse meals prepared throughout the week, as well as meals catered towards vegetarians. It is important to prepare food that residents actually want to eat. Not only should food be tasty and well prepared, but it should be visually appealing as well. Tasty and nutritious foods that appeal to a resident’s sense of sight as well as taste take into account the full dining needs of our long-term care residents.

If residents are forced to eat only at certain times of the day, they may consume food even when they are not hungry – or worse, they will skip meals and not have food available when hunger does set in. Flexible meal times – including an expanded time frame for each meal – are necessary to allow residents to eat when they want. It is imperative that food is available to residents throughout the day, and an option to do this is to offer a canteen within the facility. Another option is to offer room service to residents. Long-term care residents, especially those who sleep during the day and are awake in the evenings and at night, can enjoy the convenience of requesting food to be sent to their room when they feel hungry.

Another area that can benefit from improvement is the way in which food is being served. While many facilities utilize buffet-style and restaurant-style dining for their main meals, more facilities can introduce open access to food in addition to these more established serving styles. Residents may crave snacks when meals are not being served, and this option should be made available to them.

Allowing residents to eat together in a common dining room also enhances the dining experience, and fosters a home-like, friendly atmosphere. This environment should ideally be a well-lit, open area where residents are encouraged to interact with each other. Facilities should also aim to create self-contained living areas for their residents, with each area equipped with a kitchen and dining room. The goal is to permit residents to feel welcome, invited, and safe while enjoying good food and company.

This year’s Residents’ Rights Week theme Defining Dining…It’s About Me challenges us to think of creative ways to implement an exceptional dining experience for our long-term care residents during the week of October 3 – 9, 2010 and throughout the year. If mealtimes are the only event during the day that residents look forward to, which is often the case, then we should strive to give them the best dining experience possible.

As we enter Residents’ Rights Week in October and start thinking about the holiday season – of which an entire day is dedicated to eating deliciously prepared Thanksgiving foods with our loved ones – let’s work together to make 2010 the year to provide our long-term care residents with the tastiest food, comfortable dining environments, and flexible options for mealtimes.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Ryan Whitmore and Michael TS Lindenmayer from The Caregiver Relief Fund, “Providing home health vouchers for care for caregivers in need,” on October 6th, 10AM Pacific on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics

The Caregiver Relief Fund (CRF) is a non-for-profit organization that provides resources, assistance and a voice to over 50 million Americans who are currently caregivers to the chronically ill, aged and disabled. We address two major problems for caregivers: limited time and chronic exhaustion. The CRF provides vouchers for “respite” at-home care, which are donated or purchased on behalf of the CRF from professional at-home care service companies. These vouchers give caregivers time to address their personal needs and grants them the resources needed to invest in their own well being. We created the CRF to respect caregivers, build strong families and ultimately help America face one of its single largest challenges: the aging of America and its impact on caregivers.

How Does The Caregiver Relief Fund Work? The Caregiver Relief Fund begins with leading at-home care companies. We work directly with the individual franchises to secure donated vouchers for “respite” at-home care. In cases where donations are not possible, the CRF may negotiate to buy vouchers to help those caregivers in need. After securing the hours, we will select and match the available relief funds. In order to receive a voucher, caregivers begin by filling out an application form and sharing their caregiving story. Voucher recipients are non-paid caregivers with an annual income of $80,000 or less who have been in a caregiving role for a chronically ill individual, elder or disabled person for 12 months or longer.

Website: www.caregiverrelieffund.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Caregiver-Relief-Fund/225706396963?ref=ts
Twitter: Carerelieffund

Michael Lindenmayer: Michael is the founder of the Caregiver Relief Fund. Michael has a long history of building social ventures. He was an early adopter of the award winning leading micro-credit institution, the Grameen Bank (www.grameen-info.org) and of the leading literacy organization, Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org). He is a founding member in the Rio Leadership Institute (www.ilrio.com.br) and of the South Leadership Institute (www.southleadership.com). Michael is a member of the brain trust of World Blu (www.worldblu.com), the thought leader on democratically run organizations. Michael commenced his career in investment banking. He worked at Morgan Stanley in their New York and London offices. He did post-graduate research for James P Womack during his tenure at MIT. He is a frequent speaker on caregiving issues, frequent radio guest and committed champion of caregivers. He graduated cum laude from Kalamazoo College. Michael is a partner in a consulting firm and speaks 5 languages.

Ryan Whitmore: Ryan is the Editor-in-Chief of the Elder Brief (www.elderbrief.com), a publication dedicated to educate and inform elders and caregivers of the products and services available to assist them in their journeys. Prior to his role at Elder Brief, Ryan was a financial analyst based in Chicago. Ryan has served as the co-head of the Chicago Chapter of Room to Read and is an advocate and volunteer for Ladder Up, a Chicago-based non for profit which assists low income families gain access to education funding.
Ryan and his wife live in Chicago. He speaks English and Portuguese.

Join me as I interview Elizabeth Fine from The Memory Tree on October 4th, 9AM Pacific on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics

Elizabeth G. Fine, LCSW is the President and Founder of the Early Alzheimer’s Foundation, Inc and its program The Memory Tree™.

Elizabeth has been working with Alzheimer’s disease individuals and their families for 20 years as part of the staff of Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Geriatric Psychiatry Department, and also as the Director of the Alzheimer’s Caregivers Program (funded by New York State Department of Health). She has also trained health care providers and caregivers to work with those with memory disorders.

The Memory Tree™ is New York City’s first program solely dedicated to helping individuals with Early Alzheimer’s Disease and their caregivers; in fact, it was one of the first such programs in the nation. The Memory Tree™ is a weekly program providing early intervention, support, respite, and education to a challenged, underserved, significantly growing population. The Memory Tree™ uniquely provides a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to the challenges of individuals coping with the disease: help for the person who has been diagnosed, intervention for those who have not, and respite for the caregiver.

The Memory Tree™ has grown from a pilot program in Harlem to a program pulling in participants from throughout New York City and the tri-state area. The success of the program is well known with referrals coming from local physicians and hospitals, the Alzheimer’s Association, and word of mouth. The Memory Tree™ opened its second program more than a year ago in collaboration with Dorot Inc in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

The Memory Tree™ is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization

Our website: www.thememorytree.org
Phone 917-656-0558

The programs meet once a week, and offers a wide variety of classes and workshop which include; Memory Aerobics, Chair Yoga, “In the News” discussions, presentations by the Museum of Modern Art, and group discussions for caregivers, all designed to keep the body and brain challenged.

We offer the program at two locations:

1. Dorot ( 85th Street and Amsterdam Ave)
Tuesdays 1pm – 5pm

2. Morningside Gardens (124th Street and Broadway)
Mondays 3pm – 6pm

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