Grey Matters on KKZZ in Ventura, CA will be interviewing Viki Kind on Feb. 25th at 4:30PST

Grey Matters is a weekly radio show on AM 1400 KKZZ, airing each Friday from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Dedicated to empowering the Sandwich Generation and their parents through the aging process. You don’t have to figure this out alone. Aging is not black and white – grey matters!

This innovative and entertaining show is hosted by Cheri Kurman and Jim Duran. Cheri is an attorney, certified by the California State Bar as a specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Jim is the Executive Director of Cypress Place Senior Living Facilities in Ventura and this year’s recipient of the California Assisted Living Association’s Outstanding Executive Director Award.

Learn more about Cheri and her firm at www.NormanDowler.com, and Cypress Senior Living Centers at http://www.cypressplaceseniorliving.com

Have a kind and respectful day.

GO WISH Cards – A wonderful tool to explain what you want if you were seriously ill

Coda Alliance presents the ‘Go Wish Game’. It gives you an easy, entertaining way to think and talk about what’s important to you if you become seriously ill. The starter game comes with two packs of cards in contrasting colors and instructions for using the cards individually or in pairs.

For more information about the game, and to play on-line, visit www.gowish.org.

Reach And Teach Says:
“A woman at church came up to us and thanked us for having introduced her to Go Wish. She had given her mother a deck of Go Wish cards and had gone through the deck once with her mom. A month later, her mom had fallen into a coma, and her children were facing very difficult decisions about her care. They disagreed with each other and there was a lot of tension. One of the children had to go to the mother’s home to get something and found the sorted Go Wish card deck and detailed notes the mother had written about her top ten wishes. It was clear what their mother wanted, and the children were relieved to be able to follow her wishes, clearly documented, rather than having to argue with each other about what they each thought their mother might want.”

We feel very lucky that our paths crossed with the amazing people at the Coda Alliance. Having seen what we had done with Teaching Economics As If People Mattered, CIVIO, MicahsCall.org, Tikkun/NSP, and other online projects, the Coda Alliiance asked us if we could help create an online version of Go Wish. We feel that having your desires known and followed, especially when you can not speak for yourself, is a key social justice issue.

Go Wish helps you figure out what’s most important to you and allows you to have discussions about your wishes with people who may someday have to speak for you. If you are a caregiver, or may find yourself in that position, Go Wish is also a very good way for you to learn, ahead of time, what the person you may be caring for wishes. We’ve found the cards incredibly helpful in our own lives as we work with our own aging parents, and when we have shared them with others they have had significant impact.

We’re grateful to have the Coda Alliance as one of our 10/10 partners, helping to make the Go Wish card decks more easily available across the country.

Your Order Includes: You get 2 decks (two different colors) for $22.00 (which includes shipping within the United States – for international orders, please select “International Shipping” from the pull-down menu and we will add $10 to cover the additional postage).

Bulk Orders: Card packs may also be purchased in bulk in quantities up to 64 packs total. Use the pull-down menu to select bulk order quantities. Prices include shipping and handling.

If you’d like to order larger quantities, please call us at 1-888-PEACE-40.

Order Directly from the Coda Alliance:
You can also order decks directly from the Coda Alliance. They have special pricing for very large bulk orders.
https://www.reachandteach.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=557

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.

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.

WGNtv.com interviews Viki on the Midday News 9/14/10

Viki will be appearing on the Midday News show on Chicago’s WGN TV on September 14, 2010.

WGN Television, whose call letters are derived from the Chicago Tribune’s first slogan, “World’s Greatest Newspaper”, hit the airwaves on April 5, 1948 on Channel 9 in Chicago from its studios at Tribune Tower.

WGN-TV ushered in a new millennium in 2000 with a new 29,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art newsroom facility and upgraded digital equipment. In 2004, all Chicago Cubs, White Sox and Bulls home game telecasts on WGN aired in the high definition format on WGN’s Chicago area digital multicast signal, WGN-DT 9.1, making WGN one of the leading HD sports programmers in the country.

2009 marked the completion of full-power U.S. television stations’ transition from analog to digital signals, while “WGN Midday News” and “WGN Evening News” were expanded on WGN-DT 9.1 Chicago, and WGN News merged with CLTV (Tribune Company’s Chicago cable TV news channel). In 2010, WGN-TV became the first Chicago TV station to offer iPhone users the ability to watch live streams of WGN-TV newscasts and “WGN Morning News” expanded to a four-and-a-half-hour newscast. WGN News programs more than 154 hours of news each week (over 44 hours on WGN-DT 9.1 Chicago and 110 hours on CLTV).

WGN-TV has received numerous awards for programming excellence and community service. The station is proud of the many contributions it has made to television, and is recognized as a leader for creativity, innovation, quality programming and integrity in operation.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Leeza’s Place will be hosting an End of Life presentation on 7/29/10 from 6-7:30pm PST

Viki will be giving an End of Life presentation at Leeza’s Place in Sherman Oaks, CA on 7/29/10 from 6-7:30pm PST

Leeza Gibbons develped Leeza’s Place for both family caregivers and the recently diagnosed with chronic illness or disease, that integrates educational programs, connective social activities, emotional support, and intergenerational programming designed to help you navigate through your community’s continuum of care.

Leeza’s Place was designed to ensure that others would have access to new, supportive settings created for the purpose of educating, empowering and energizing.

The cornerstone of each Leeza’s Place is a specially trained “Leeza Care Advocate” whose primary responsibility is to guide caregivers and their loved ones through the emotionally charged maze of memory disorders: educationally, supportively, and confidently.

Each Leeza’s Place has been carefully crafted to empower both the caregiver and the recently diagnosed by offering services that create self esteem, relieve symptoms, impart knowledge, reduce stress, promote inclusion, and ultimately improve the quality of life while helping you to acquire advocacy, coping and care-related skills.

All of the programs at Leeza’s Place are the direct result of listening to and understanding the unique needs, values, pressures and goals of caregivers and their loved ones. Programs have been designed to provide educational and empowering strategies that are not currently available.

Although services may vary from site to site, each Leeza’s Place locale will provide programs that offer support on three levels – emotional, educational and social – for caregivers, families and their recently diagnosed loved ones.

Leeza’s Place is the signature program of the Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation. For a list of Leeza’s Place locations across the country, please click HERE.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Booklist Magazine Reviews The Caregiver’s Path!

Whitney Scott of Booklist Magazine review’s “The Caregiver’s Path to Compassionate Decision Making: Making Choices for Those Who Can’t.”

Have a kind and respectful day.

Making Difficult Life & Medical Decisions presentation at the FSGA Annual Conference 7/17/10

Viki will be giving a presentation at the Florida State Guardianship Association’s (FSGA) Annual Conference on 4 Tools for Making Difficult Life and Medical Decisions on 7/17/10 at 10:50am.

FSGA is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1983 for the improvement of guardianship services. Governed by a Board of Directors representing five geographical areas of the State, FSGA is dedicated to promoting the protection, dignity, and value of incapacitated persons through ethics, advocacy, and the dissemination of information.

FSGA’s mission also includes a focus on furthering the professionalization of guardians as accountable court representatives through education, networking, and legislative action.

Guardianship is the management of the affairs of someone who has been judged unable to manage their own affairs. Generally guardianship is ordered by a court on behalf of someone who is called a ward of the court. A guardian assumes the rights of the ward to make decisions about many aspects of daily life. A guardian is directed by ethics and statute to make decisions in the best interest of the ward.

FSGA members include professional private guardians, corporate guardians and fiduciaries, attorneys, social workers, care managers, government agency and court staff and others interested in the support and advancement of guardianship services and alternative protective services.

Have a kind and respectful day.

n4a Annual Conference & Tradeshow 7/18/10 and 7/19/10 in St. Louis

Viki will be attending the n4a’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow all day on July 18th and will be presenting on July 19th from 3:15-4:15pm.

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) is the leading voice on aging issues for Area Agencies on Aging and a champion for Title VI Native American aging programs. Through advocacy, training and technical assistance, they support the national network of 629 AAAs and 246 Title VI programs.

They advocate on behalf of their member agencies for services and resources for older adults and persons with disabilities. Action characterizes how they move their agenda forward, and when there is a question about aging, they have the Answers on Aging. They work with their members in achieving their collective mission of building a society that values and supports people as they age.

The n4a 2010 annual conference and tradeshow that runs from July 17-21, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch in St. Louis, MO will celebrate, showcase and facilitate the replication of the most innovative policies, programs and services that assist older adults and people with disabilities.

Have a kind and respectful day.

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