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Vol. 13, No. 3
March 2022
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Dear Friends:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be caused by the dangers of the battlefield, or from more mundane everyday activities like hitting your head when getting out of a car. March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. The goals of this annual campaign are to highlight TBI prevention, and also advocate for those living with TBI and their families. For family caregivers, FCA has a fact sheet on TBI (also available in Spanish and Chinese— both Simplified and Traditional), in addition to other resources including information on behavior problems related to brain injury and caregiver self-care.
Sincerely,
Calvin Hu
Education Coordinator
[email protected]
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“Every storm runs out of rain.”
— Maya Angelou
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2021 Winners of the Innovations in Alzheimer’s Caregiving Award
In celebration of the 14th year of the Innovations in Alzheimer’s Caregiving Award, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Inc., and FCA are pleased to announce three winning organizations—each delivering a state-of-the-art program that addresses the needs of caregivers and those they care for living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related condition. Each model program will receive $20,000 for their work. The 2021 winning organizations are Elderwise (Seattle, WA), “Art Is…In” (Chicago, IL), and CARE NYC (Sunnyside, NY). Detailed information on each can be found here.
In light of COVID-19, the winning organizations will celebrate receipt of their award via an online event to be held in April. A webinar highlighting these organizations and their programs will be offered this spring.
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Q&A with Julian Leus, Community Engagement Specialist at FCA
As FCA’s new Community Engagement Specialist, Julian Leus works with social service, health care, and provider organizations that support family caregivers and local communities. In this Q&A, Julian shares some insights from working with family caregivers, offers tips to providers who may have caregiver clients or patients, and describes the free in-service sessions we offer to local organizations. Read Julian’s full bio here.
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Get Your Own Personalized Caregiving Resource Dashboard
Go online to complete a brief questionnaire and get a personal dashboard loaded with information that matches your unique caregiving needs. CareNav, our secure online service, offers quality information, support, and resources for family caregivers of adults with chronic physical or cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer’s, stroke, Parkinson’s, and other illnesses.
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Depression and Caregiving
Caregiving can be tough and stressful work. While not all caregivers live with depression, it is a normal response to the demands of caregiving. For family caregivers who are depressed, or think they may be, FCA’s Depression and Caregiving fact sheet identifies the symptoms of depression, explains certain caregiver concerns, and gives advice on treatment options, alternative therapies, and how to pay for treatment.
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Caregiver Resource Center Classes
The California Caregiver Resource Centers (CRC) serve families and caregivers of adults affected by chronic and debilitating health conditions (FCA is the San Francisco Bay Area CRC). FCA is now hosting a calendar of classes, workshops, and events compiled from each of the 11 CRCs and open to family caregivers across the country.
For more information on April events, please click here.
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An Elderly Mother and an Aging Son:
A Journalist’s Caregiving Story
The pandemic’s ongoing toll has prompted more people to consider caring for an aging parent, partner, or spouse at home. But with someone turning 65 every eight seconds in this country, how prepared are we? This special FCA webinar will feature journalist, filmmaker, and caregiver Dave Iverson as he discusses his upcoming book, our country’s growing eldercare crisis, and how he navigated the challenges of caregiving.
Presenter
Dave Iverson was a 59-year-old broadcast journalist and filmmaker when he decided to do something he’d never imagined. He moved back into his childhood home when his 95-year-old mom could no longer care for herself. Dave’s new memoir Winter Stars: An Elderly Mother, An Aging Son and Life’s Final Journey is the story of their ten-year caregiving odyssey, lasting until his mom’s passing.
When: Wednesday, March 30, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon (PT)
Where: ONLINE
Cost: No Charge
Registration: Click here
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Take Charge! Advance Care Planning Tips
Get the health care you want based on what matters most. This webinar will discuss how to talk about your wishes for care with the important people in your life, and cover how to choose someone to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to do so. The webinar will also cover how to write down your wishes using Advance Heath Care Directives and the Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment.
Speaker: Mary Matthiesen
Mary Matthiesen is the Community Engagement and Education Director with Mission Hospice & Home Care in San Mateo – one of the original and still independent non-profit hospices in California. She has led awareness initiatives on end of life issues internationally, and supports the innovative educational offerings at Mission Hospice as well as her passion of engaging partners to co-create more compassionate communities for those living with serious illness, death and bereavement.
When: Wednesday, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon (PT)
Where: ONLINE
Cost: No Charge
Registration: Click here
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How to Avoid Surprise Bills — And the Pitfalls in the New Law
Surprise billing occurs when you get an unexpected bill for medical or emergency care. One example is going to an emergency room that is covered by your insurance (in-network), but unbeknownst to you, one of the technicians running a test, or a doctor overseeing your care does not take your insurance. You only learn about this because a bill arrives in the mail for out-of-network services. A federal law was passed to eliminate this practice, but the law has many loopholes. KHN’s By Dan Weissmann gives information on how to avoid facing surprise medical bills.
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How to Be a Partner, Not a Parent, When Providing Care for a Spouse
Caregiving can affect relationship dynamics. This may be especially true when the person being cared for is a spouse or partner. Lee Woodruff, writing for AARP, interviews couples and gives advice on how to maintain an intimate connection while being a caregiver to a partner or spouse.
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CAREGIVERS CONNECT:
FCA EVENTS
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Dementia 101
Caring for someone living with dementia poses many unique challenges for family caregivers. This class will provide a basic understanding of dementia and how it affects an individual. Dementia 101 will also include some tips for caregivers on how to cope with these changes.
This training is supported by the California Department of Public Health Alzheimer’s Disease Program’s California Healthy Brain Initiative State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia. Funding is provided by the 2019 California Budget Act one-time General Fund expenditure authority over three State Fiscal Years from 2019 to 2022. Dementia 101 is being presented in partnership with Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
When: Wednesday, March 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (PT)
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost: No charge
Registration: Click here
This class is open to family caregivers in Santa Clara county.
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Caregiving Policy Digest is a publication of the National Center on Caregiving, a program of Family Caregiver Alliance. The newsletter offers a fresh look at the rapidly changing world of caregiving policy―at the local, national, and international levels.
You’ll receive briefings on key legislation, news on innovative public programs, and the latest information on caregiving and long-term care policy at national and state levels. Subscribe here.
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Professional Research Listings
Graduate Student Research Listings
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Thank you!
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.
FCA has led the way in supporting family caregivers for over 40 years. Your donation makes all the difference!
You can also help support FCA by choosing us as your Amazon Smile charity.
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CONNECTIONS CREDITS
Editors: Calvin Hu, Al Martinez
Contributors: Kathleen Kelly, Executive Director, Calvin Hu, Lana Sheridan, Leah Eskenazi
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President: M Celine Takatsuno
Vice-Presidents: Catherine Lelong, Ian Tong
Treasurer: Wyatt Ritchie
Secretary: Amanda Breeden Warner
Athan Bezaitis, Deborah Kan, Shruti Kothari, Dan Lieberman, Scott Peifer, Kathleen Raffel, Tiffany Riser, Karen Sperling, Keely Stevenson.
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101 Montgomery Street | Suite 2150 | San Francisco, CA 94104
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