Plan to attend for senior information and resources or to promote your service.  Click below for the details of the event or for forms needed to obtain a table.

2014 Mobile Senior Lifestyle Expo      (2) Sponsor-booth contract Senior Expo 2014

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Abba Shrine Center

Please contact Gay Watson for information! 251 706-4671

The “Yellow Dot” program is the first program of its kind in the state of Alabama. It is designed to assist Alabama citizens and first responders in the event of an automobile crash or other medical emergency involving the participant’s vehicle. The program can help save lives during the critical “golden hour” by improving communication at a time when accident victims may be unable to communicate for themselves.

Carol Merkel is working with the Mobile County Sheriff’s office to promote this  program.  She is available to speak to groups about the  “Yellow Dot” program and can be reached at 251-861-3333.

A doctor who makes house calls?  Yes.  Check out Dr. Spriggs‘ website and learn all about the services he and his team can provide in Mobile, Baldwin, and Washington counties.

The Alzheimer’s Association has come to our region and is ready to make a difference.  Peter Cowley, Associate Director in our area since August 2012, addressed the Mobile Senior Coalition meeting today that was held at the Gardens of Daphne Assisted Living Facility.  He spoke about the association and its many resources.  A Walk to End Alzheimer’s is in the planning stages.  For more information, log on to alz.org and search for the local chapter.

On July 11, 2014, Dr. David Geldmacher, Director, Division of Memory Disorders and Behavioral Neurology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham will speak at the James P. Nix Center in Fairhope, AL from 8am – 12:00pm.  His major focus is Alzheimer’s patients and their improved treatment.

This is an open access educational offering available to both caregivers and clinicians at no charge to attendees.

CEU credits available for licensed nurses, social workers, NH Administrators and ALF Administrators.

Alzheimer’s Family Services can be reached by calling (850) 478-7790 or at www.alzfamserv.org

E. A. Roberts Alzheimer’s Center will present Alison Richardson, CPA  of Richardson and Associates at their Educational Dementia Support Group on Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 10am.  The center is located on 169 Mobile Infirmary Boulevard, Mobile, AL  36607.

Complimentary care will be provided during the meeting.  Please call 251-435-6950 for more information.

MOBILE COUNTY SUPPORT GROUPS

Rocking for Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support Group – call in support every third Sunday from 4-5:00 pm. Call 480-297-0773 code 4796634#. Contact Gina Scott at 251-533-6092 for more information.  https://www.dorismariejonesfoundation.org 

The Gulf Coast Dementia Services Support Group

Location: 3263 Demetropolis Road, Ste 9B at the Quadrangle Business Center, Mobile, AL 36693 at Touching Hearts Senior Care Office

The Caregiver Support Groups are held the second and fourth Tuesday from 11:00 – 12:00pm and meets in the Touching Hearts Senior Care office.  This is a free event and completely confidential.

You may call  251-445-4204 or 251-421-4888 for more information:

The Gulf Coast Dementia Services Support Groups provide emotional, educational and social support for caregivers by master certified dementia health coach and dementia practitioner, Janet Rich Pittman, who conducts all sessions.

Click here for a link to Gulf Coast Dementia Services

E. A. Roberts Alzheimer Center offers Dementia Education support once a quarter at 5:00 pm. They are located at 169 Mobile Infirmary Drive.  Please call 251-435-6950 for further information.

We wish you a merry Christmas wherever you are! May God give you the grace to enjoy precious moments by going with the flow presented today.  Smile and be thankful that you are trusted with the gift of loving someone unconditionally in your life.

This purple wreath helped guide the participants to our meeting place today at the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center.  We had a great turnout and heard valuable information from Julie McGee, Director of the Area Agency on Aging. Mrs. McGee gave a brief history of the Coalition and it’s first project – the Helpline – and then introduced her good friend, Gayle Boswell, who is the Area Agency Director in Montgomery, AL.  Mrs. Boswell shared some exciting news about what they are doing with grant money for CNA training in nursing homes.

Della Sanchez, Alabama Cares Coordinator, was making it all happen and handing out information as people arrived.

The next speaker was yours truly, Beth Reinert, who spoke about finding information on the internet to help with dementia care. Caregiversunite.org blog and Facebook page was shown on the screen, a prize was given for making a comment on the Facebook page and there was a question and answer period that followed.  The remaining members of the Coalition were given a chance to tell about themselves and what they are doing:

Laura Harrington of E. A. Roberts Alzheimer Center told of their recent successful open house and stated the center would be open one Saturday a month for Adult Day Care along with their regular weekday schedule.

Gina Germany of Touching Hearts Senior Care told about the Gulf Coast Senior Alliance and the Gulf Coast Dementia Services.  She announced a conference in April that will feature Teepa Snow as the speaker.

Janet Rich Pittman, Director of Marketing at Brookside Retirement Community, told of her passion for teaching about Brain Health and dementia prevention.

Leslie Johnson of Covenant Hospice brought us up to date on the support groups available in Baldwin County.  See the recent post detailing the times and dates of those meetings.

We also heard from a DETA trainer, Martha Allegri, who is available to speak and teach about dementia through Alzbrain.org.

I am excited about the interest shown today and all the people I met who I hope to introduce you to soon via this blog. Thank you all for coming. Long live the Alzheimer and Dementia Coalition of South Alabama!

While there is endless information these days encouraging us caregivers to take care of ourselves, improve our abilities through education, and receive support by connecting with other caregivers, let me remind you of the people we hire to help take care of our loved ones.

When the job of caring became too much for me to do alone, I turned to others for help.  That came in the form of hiring strangers to entrust my mother’s care.  We started by having someone come into my mother’s home to prepare the noonday meal and provide some social interaction.  Although this arrangement only lasted two weeks, I have to say this young lady did what I asked of her even though my mother wasn’t so keen on having her in the house.  Not an easy job when the person you are there to serve doesn’t understand the need or resents your presence.

Very shortly after that, we moved Momma into an assisted living facility, where she had the help of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA’s) to assist her with dressing and bathing.  I came to appreciate the confidence these (mostly female) workers had as they worked tirelessly all day long, going from one person to the next, to carry out their duties.  Some CNA’s seemed to enjoy their job more than others, some with genuine care and kindness, some just doing their job.  However, they all kept going, regardless of family or health problems or financial needs that was affecting their mood. Do I think that two weeks is a long enough time to be trained as an expert on giving care, especially to someone with dementia? No. Most of the learned care techniques are gained from each other while on the job.  So given the job qualifications required, the tasks to achieve on a daily basis are not easy.  After all, we needed help, too.

I’ve called the CNA’s our “friends” as I’ve explained their involvement to my mother.  We’ve taken their pictures and framed them along with their name underneath to remind us of how important they are to us.  We had to move into a Special Care Unit for a while and benefited from the new CNA’s we met there and their willingness to learn my mom’s habits and behaviors.  I have always tried to find ways to thank and encourage the work they do and report to their supervisor their diligence and good deeds.

Recently, I was considering  broken communication between a CNA and myself.  Instead of complaining, I decided to thank the entire unit for all their help by bringing in lunch for the day shift and dinner for the night shift.   If the pizza didn’t do it, maybe the Mississippi mud cake would bridge any gaps that had developed over the six months we’d been there.  While I have perceived that family members are viewed as potential trouble for the CNA’s, I feel these women need to hear what a good job they are doing and give them opportunity to take pride in their work.  They take the brunt of all complaints and expect to either hear it from the family, or worse, be reprimanded by their supervisor.  While this is appropriate at times, we need to know how to get along without fear of reprisal.

I hope we can change our perception of each other and be willing to work together for the good of the residents.  The care of our loved ones requires a harmonious team.  While we as family members might find that good care is hard to sustain, it’s is all our responsibility to improve communication and learn together.  Let’s start by thanking a CNA today.