MEMO
COMMON GROUND: CAREGIVER CONVERSATIONS
To: Care Team Leaders and Clergy
From: Earl E. Shelp, Ph.D.
Date: February 12, 2008
Subject: Support Groups for Caregivers
As you know better than most people, the number of people providing care for a family member increases each year. Some family caregivers are reside near or with a loved one who needs some form of assistance and they may be involved on a daily basis helping that person. Other family members are caring for a loved one from a distance, perhaps the loved one is in another city or across greater
Interfaith CarePartners is pleased to announce a new pilot project that will offer an additional form of support to caregivers. COMMON GROUND: CAREGIVER CONVERSATIONS is a two-year pilot project to help ease the burdens of caregivers by providing a professionally led safe and comfortable time for caregivers to come together to share their experiences, learn about resources, and become equipped to provide care for a loved one as best as possible.
We are interested to develop Common Ground in partnership with congregations participating in the Care Team program. As a pilot project, we shall explore what best meets the needs of caregivers by considering time, location, membership, facilitators, and other variables that may influence how much value caregivers receive from their participation. Since distance is a barrier for caregivers, we want to include as many sites as possible in the pilot project. Our goal is to meet the interests and needs of caregivers as they define them, not as we project upon them. One option they will have is an educational program developed for caregivers by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving.
Six or eight congregations have already expressed interest to participate in the Common Ground pilot project. Please consider the needs and opportunities for additional service with people being served by your Care Team or members of your congregation. We are excited to offer this new project to our partner congregations as we together serve people with long term care challenges. All of the research suggests that the need among current caregivers for multifaceted support is large, and the number of caregivers is destined to increase as the population ages and members of the ‘baby boom’ generation require everyday assistance.
For more information about Common Ground, contact Marvin Hines at 713-682-5995 or mhines@interfaithcarepartners.org. We hope to hear from many of you as we strive to be