Ministry opportunities to the seniors at CCC and Chester community:
For our CCC seniors:
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Remember CCC seniors with cards/small gifts at special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays)
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Visit or phone CCC seniors to show we remember & care
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Provide transportation to/from CCC church activities when needed
- Take audiotapes of CCC weekly worship services to CCC seniors
Goals -- Resources: Internet -- Books
- Accompany residents on weekly community outings (restaurants, malls, etc.)
- Be helping hands with nursing home activities (bingo games, ice cream socials)
- Provide prizes for weekly bingo games (small, inexpensive)
- Shop for & wrap Christmas gifts for residents
- Provide entertainment (music by choirs, Sunday School classes, individuals)
- Work in gift shop (2-3 hours/month)
This section lists some web sites that we feel you and your familiy members may find useful in providing information and services for your aging loved ones.
www.AARP.com - Some of the sections of this web site include:
| Health & Wellness Computers & Technology | Health Insurance Options |
| Leisure & FunCaregiving | Money & Work |
| Men's HealthLegislative Issues | Community Support |
| For GrandparentsMedicare | Nursing Homes |
www.seniorfriends.com - Some of the sections of this web site include:
| Life Transitions Food & Nutrition | Online Senior Friends Magazine |
| Aging & HealthWomen's Health | Men's Health |
| Travel & HealthMental Health |
www.SeniorNavigator.com
Health information.
Finding housing and health facilities (senior housing, long-term care facilities).
Legal and financial services (basic info on legal questions and services available).
On-line discussion and ask-the-experts on health, financial, legal issues.
This site is a compilation of 14,000 resources on aging and health in Virginia; a great site for those who want answers or help in locating appropriate services or information for themselves or other senior adults.
www.familycareamerica.com
Family Care America's internet web site with valuable information for anyone who needs or provides caregiving assistance. Valuable resource listings, full-length articles in Family Care's internet library on topics such as caregiving basics, long-distance caregiving, housing, legal issues, emotional health, spiritual health, death and dying, and many, many others. One of the best internet libraries for research on understanding the needs of those needing care and how to best help them.
Other Internet sites:
www.ahaf.org - American Health Assistance Foundation (non-profit agency with information on Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, stroke, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and information on emergency funds for Alzheimer patient and family).
www.aoa.gov - Administration on Aging
www.alz.org - Alzheimer's Association
www.medicare.gov - Medicare online
www.caregiving.org - National Alliance for Caregiving
www.n4a.org - National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
www.nih.gov/nia - National Institute on Aging
www.seniorlaw.com - Senior Law
www.ssa.gov - Social Security Online
www.vaaaa.org - Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging
www.seniorconnections-va.org - Senior Connections
Resources for caregivers of the aging
Helping Yourself Help Others, Rosalyn Carter, Times Books, 1996. Former first lady, Rosalyn Carter, weaves in stories from her life in caring for family members to help people dealing with similar challenges better understand solutions, resources, and risks for caregivers.
Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of our Elders, Mary Pipher, Ph.D, Riverhead Books, 1999. Using her knowledge as a therapist and drawing from her own life's experiences, the author looks at issues facing today's adults and their older parents. Today's families face complex challenges in dealing with two careers, kids, and caregiving. She helps us learn how to better communicate and work together as our roles change.
The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease, Nancy L. Mace, M.A., Peter V. Rabins, M.D., Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. This book is a comprehensive guide for family members caring for persons with dementia. It describes what dementia is, and gives practical tips on dealing with the behaviors and physical condition of a person with dementia. Readers learn how caring for someone with dementia affects the caregiver, and how caregivers can find ways to take care of themselves. It describes the kinds of help and living arrangements that may be available and how to find those services. Lastly, the book describes on-going research to uncover the cause and, hopefully, a cure for this debilitating disease.
Searching for Normal Feelings (Socks Series), Doug Manning, retired minister, counselor, and caregiver to his own parents and other relatives. Available from In-Sight Books, Inc. at www.insightbooks.com. What are you supposed to feel about your aging parent? What is normal? If we do not know the answer, we can become obsessed with guilt and frustration. The author gives each person the permission to feel "normal." Cost: $1.50.
Parenting our Parents (Socks Series), Doug Manning, In-Sight Books, Inc. Available at www.insightbooks.com. When we become parent to our parents, the roles change; with the new role comes difficulty in communication. If you have a hard time knowing how to talk with your parent, you need this book. Cost: $1.50.
Share My Lonesome Valley - The Slow Grief of Long-Term Care, Doug Manning, In-Sight Books, Inc. Available at www.insightbooks.com. Whether it's Alzheimers disease, ALS, cancer, heart disease, or Parkinson's disease, the one thing all these diseases often have in common is the patients suffering from them have a person acting as a primary caregiver. Long-term care means the caregiver is busy, overwhelmed, and tired, with little opportunity to grieve the gradual losses that take place every day. This takes a toll on the caregiver, the family, and the patient. The author outlines the dangers and pitfalls, and gently provides opportunities for the caregiver to recognize, realize, and reconcile the 'quiet sorrows' that make this type of caregiving such a difficult task. Cost: $8.95
I'll Be There: Caring for Your Parents, Job, Kids, and Marriage, Eve Herold, American Health Assistance Foundation. Order by calling (800) 437-2423 or on-line at www.ahaf.org. Cost: $5.00.
When Love Gets Tough: the Nursing Home Decision, Doug Manning, In-Sight Books, Inc. Available at www.insightbooks.com. There is no way to make the nursing home decision easy. Most of the time it is a decision we'd like to avoid. We make the decision out of necessity instead of choice. The decision can be made with less guilt and fear if we can understand the reasons for the choice. We can live with the decision if we grasp the adjustment process loved ones experience when they begin a new life in a nursing home. The author writes of his personal experience in making the decision of nursing home care for his loved ones, and shares how to understand the normal feelings in making such a decision, and how to deal with guilt feelings.