Catalog
The Catalog lists currently available classes. Check back often as we frequently add new classes.
Don't see what you want? Want to offer continuing education credits? Contact us to discuss a customized topic.
Check the Calendar to see which classes are currently scheduled.
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All workshops can be submitted for Continuing Education Credits.
Continuing Education Credit approval process can take up to 8 weeks.
Aging & Family Relationships (2.5 hours)
How does aging impact marriages, parent/child and other family relationships? This program will begin by raising awareness about individual aging and how it impacts others in the family. We will then explore caregiving and how it is affected by family dynamics including issues that can lead to refusal or acceptance of services. Practical strategies and resources will be offered so that participants can better help families work through eldercare challenges and intergenerational conflict.
Learning Objectives:
Aging Sensitivity Training (2 hour)
Basic understanding of the aging process is essential to working effectively with older adults. Aging sensitivity training improves staff's ability to understand and connect with older individuals in their care. This workshop also explores ways to enhance communication with clients / patients / residents who have vision or hearing impairments. This workshop is effective as an orientation for new employees and as a refresher in-service to ensure a consistent approach among experienced staff.
Learning Objectives:
Gerontology 101 (2 hour, 3 hour or 6 hour formats available)
This class works as either an introduction or refresher to build awareness and understanding of older adults and the aging process. It is valuable for a wide audience - including professionals in senior recreation, lifelong learning, social services, housing, home and health care as well as clergy and first responders.
Learning Objectives:
NOTE: Gero 101 can also be offered in longer formats, including a half day (3 hours) or full day (6 hours) for new employee orientation to the field.
The Prevention of Compassion Fatigue & Burnout (2 hour or 3 hour formats available)
Eldercare professionals are routinely exposed to traumatic stories in the course of their work. Case intensity can be high as family caregivers often wait until they are in crisis or near burnout before they contact professionals. It is important to recognize warning signs BEFORE the burnout stage to avoid the serious physical and mental health issues that often accompany burnout.
Learning Objectives:
Resident Intimacy in Senior Living (2 hours)
The opportunity for socialization is one of the best benefits of Assisted Living. It can also be one of the most controversial for families and staff when socialization turns to sexuality. A person’s sexual nature and need for intimacy doesn’t end at a particular age, with a diagnosis of dementia, or when a move is made from a private home to Assisted Living. However, sexual behavior in Assisted Living can raise multiple issues for staff, other residents and family members.
Learning Objectives:
Building Cognitive Reserve through Brain Fitness (2 hour or 3 hour formats available)
We still have much to learn about why certain people get Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia. And to date, no cure exists. However, exciting scientific evidence demonstrates that some people have extra brain capacity called cognitive reserve to ward off symptoms of Alzheimer's even when their brains show significant Alzheimer's pathology. This class provides basic theory about cognitive reserve and the relatively new field of brain fitness as well as dozens of practical strategies to boost brain functioning in yourself, your family, and your clients. There is hope!
Learning Objectives:
Elder Bullying: An Emerging Issue (2 hours)
Peer-to-peer elder bullying is an emerging phenomenon requiring much deeper awareness given its significant negative impact on victims, bullies themselves, witnesses, and organizational culture. This program will examine the issues and ways to intervene. Lessons learned from youth bullying programs will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Geriatric Population (4 hours)
Individuals exposed to significant trauma in their younger years are at risk for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) throughout their lifespan. Symptoms such as flashbacks, delusions, agitation, food rituals, and aversions to bathing or personal care can emerge years after the initial trauma. Understanding the early context helps caregivers avoid triggering or worsening PTSD symptoms in older adults, and highlights opportunities to enhance comfort. The film, Prisoner of Her Past”, depicts intense emotional content about the Holocaust, but the practical strategies apply to victims of various kinds of trauma.
Learning Objectives:
Ethical Dimensions of Elderly Suicide (3 hours)
While suicide brings life to a certain end, the reasons behind suicide and the beliefs of those close to the deceased are often far from certain or singular. Family members, friends and professionals can all have very different perspectives and feelings about what happened and whether they had or could have had a role in either preventing or hastening the death. Join us to bring to light multiple perspectives and ethical dimensions of elderly suicide, including beliefs about quality of life, the importance of retaining dignity and control, and the diagnosis and treatment of depression. Discussion will follow screening of "Self-Made Man" an exploration of suicide through film.
Learning Objectives:
Emotional Journey Through Dementia Caregiving (2 hours)
This program charts new territory in describing the emotions experienced by dementia caregivers, and ways caregiver emotions impact how they provide care and accept services and strategies. As dementia incidence and prevalence rise, professionals with greater clarity about the emotional landscape will be better prepared to support dementia caregivers. New models for dementia caregiving will be shared.
Learning Objectives:
Working Compassionately With Difficult Elders (2 hours)
This interactive workshop focuses on individuals who demonstrate resistant, demanding, negative, bullying or other challenging behaviors in a variety of settings including senior centers and senior living. After exploring difficult behaviors and potential strategies for addressing them, participants will collaborate to problem solve case situations. "Self-preservation" tips for professionals to help in setting boundaries and maintaining perspective while dealing with difficult people will also be included.
Learning Objectives:
How does aging impact marriages, parent/child and other family relationships? This program will begin by raising awareness about individual aging and how it impacts others in the family. We will then explore caregiving and how it is affected by family dynamics including issues that can lead to refusal or acceptance of services. Practical strategies and resources will be offered so that participants can better help families work through eldercare challenges and intergenerational conflict.
Learning Objectives:
- Raise awareness about individual aging and some ways individual aging can impact family relationships.
- Explore caregiving and some ways caregiving is affected by family dynamics.
Aging Sensitivity Training (2 hour)
Basic understanding of the aging process is essential to working effectively with older adults. Aging sensitivity training improves staff's ability to understand and connect with older individuals in their care. This workshop also explores ways to enhance communication with clients / patients / residents who have vision or hearing impairments. This workshop is effective as an orientation for new employees and as a refresher in-service to ensure a consistent approach among experienced staff.
Learning Objectives:
- Introduce key concepts to understanding today’s older adult.
- Distinguish normal aging from diseases common in older adults.
- Identify communication strategies for people with visual & hearing impairments.
Gerontology 101 (2 hour, 3 hour or 6 hour formats available)
This class works as either an introduction or refresher to build awareness and understanding of older adults and the aging process. It is valuable for a wide audience - including professionals in senior recreation, lifelong learning, social services, housing, home and health care as well as clergy and first responders.
Learning Objectives:
- Examine myths vs. realities of aging and the impact of our own beliefs on our work.
- Explore foundational gerontology topics including diversity, the importance of function over diagnosis, cohort effects and how attitudes and behavior of older adults are shaped.
- Learn to distinguish between normal aging and cognitive impairment,
- Identify communication strategies with people who have vision or hearing impairment.
NOTE: Gero 101 can also be offered in longer formats, including a half day (3 hours) or full day (6 hours) for new employee orientation to the field.
The Prevention of Compassion Fatigue & Burnout (2 hour or 3 hour formats available)
Eldercare professionals are routinely exposed to traumatic stories in the course of their work. Case intensity can be high as family caregivers often wait until they are in crisis or near burnout before they contact professionals. It is important to recognize warning signs BEFORE the burnout stage to avoid the serious physical and mental health issues that often accompany burnout.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss contributors to the stressful context.
- Recognize the physical and psychological warning signs of compassion fatigue.
- Identify strategies to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout.
Resident Intimacy in Senior Living (2 hours)
The opportunity for socialization is one of the best benefits of Assisted Living. It can also be one of the most controversial for families and staff when socialization turns to sexuality. A person’s sexual nature and need for intimacy doesn’t end at a particular age, with a diagnosis of dementia, or when a move is made from a private home to Assisted Living. However, sexual behavior in Assisted Living can raise multiple issues for staff, other residents and family members.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe resident intimacy in senior living, including staff and family reaction.
- Differentiate sexual behavior from seemingly sexual behavior in residents with dementia.
- Discuss the creation of policies and procedures to guide responses to resident intimacy, including staff responsibility, determining consent, and communication
Building Cognitive Reserve through Brain Fitness (2 hour or 3 hour formats available)
We still have much to learn about why certain people get Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia. And to date, no cure exists. However, exciting scientific evidence demonstrates that some people have extra brain capacity called cognitive reserve to ward off symptoms of Alzheimer's even when their brains show significant Alzheimer's pathology. This class provides basic theory about cognitive reserve and the relatively new field of brain fitness as well as dozens of practical strategies to boost brain functioning in yourself, your family, and your clients. There is hope!
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the principles behind cognitive reserve and brain fitness.
- Explain how cognitive reserve and brain fitness can protect against Alzheimer’s symptoms.
- List dozens of no-cost brain fitness strategies, which can be incorporated into daily life to build cognitive reserve.
Elder Bullying: An Emerging Issue (2 hours)
Peer-to-peer elder bullying is an emerging phenomenon requiring much deeper awareness given its significant negative impact on victims, bullies themselves, witnesses, and organizational culture. This program will examine the issues and ways to intervene. Lessons learned from youth bullying programs will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify examples of peer-to-peer elder bullying across a range of settings.
- Describe its root causes and the role of dementia.
- Explain the impact on victims, bullies, witnesses, and organizational culture.
- Examine strategies to address peer-to-peer elder bullying.
Coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Geriatric Population (4 hours)
Individuals exposed to significant trauma in their younger years are at risk for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) throughout their lifespan. Symptoms such as flashbacks, delusions, agitation, food rituals, and aversions to bathing or personal care can emerge years after the initial trauma. Understanding the early context helps caregivers avoid triggering or worsening PTSD symptoms in older adults, and highlights opportunities to enhance comfort. The film, Prisoner of Her Past”, depicts intense emotional content about the Holocaust, but the practical strategies apply to victims of various kinds of trauma.
Learning Objectives:
- Define Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
- View a documentary film illustrating the lasting impact of childhood trauma on a woman in her late 80's.
- Identify how the present day behavior of assisted living and nursing home residents, including food or hygiene rituals, bathing issues, agitation, or delusions may relate to trauma history.
- Describe specific techniques to avoid triggering or worsening PTSD symptoms in older adults, and to enhance comfort.
Ethical Dimensions of Elderly Suicide (3 hours)
While suicide brings life to a certain end, the reasons behind suicide and the beliefs of those close to the deceased are often far from certain or singular. Family members, friends and professionals can all have very different perspectives and feelings about what happened and whether they had or could have had a role in either preventing or hastening the death. Join us to bring to light multiple perspectives and ethical dimensions of elderly suicide, including beliefs about quality of life, the importance of retaining dignity and control, and the diagnosis and treatment of depression. Discussion will follow screening of "Self-Made Man" an exploration of suicide through film.
Learning Objectives:
- Review the incidence and prevalence of suicide among older adults.
- View a documentary-style film created by the daughter of a man who committed suicide.
- Discuss multiple perspectives and ethical issues related to elderly suicide.
Emotional Journey Through Dementia Caregiving (2 hours)
This program charts new territory in describing the emotions experienced by dementia caregivers, and ways caregiver emotions impact how they provide care and accept services and strategies. As dementia incidence and prevalence rise, professionals with greater clarity about the emotional landscape will be better prepared to support dementia caregivers. New models for dementia caregiving will be shared.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss why it’s important to gain clarity about the emotional experience of dementia caregivers..
- Map the emotional journey through dementia caregiving, and the wide range of feelings typically felt.
- Describe new models and norms to both provide dementia care and to support dementia caregivers.
Working Compassionately With Difficult Elders (2 hours)
This interactive workshop focuses on individuals who demonstrate resistant, demanding, negative, bullying or other challenging behaviors in a variety of settings including senior centers and senior living. After exploring difficult behaviors and potential strategies for addressing them, participants will collaborate to problem solve case situations. "Self-preservation" tips for professionals to help in setting boundaries and maintaining perspective while dealing with difficult people will also be included.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify difficult behaviors exhibited by elders in group settings
- Assess the impact on your organizational culture, staff, and yourself
- Recognize common root causes underlying these difficult behaviors
- Describe compassionate strategies to address difficult behaviors
- List self-preservation strategies
If I See Something, Do I Have to Say...or Do Something?
When thinking about your aging parents, relatives or someone you live with, you may notice changes that concern you. You may worry that some kind of crisis is coming, or are in the midst of one, and wondering what, if anything, you can or should do. NOTE: See the Facing Forgetfulness class for ways to make sense of memory loss or other potential signs of cognitive impairment.
Join us to:
Navigating Eldercare Crises & Transitions
Mom fell. Dad is being discharged from the hospital next week. Sudden changes and transitions can easily overwhelm spouses and adult children.
This class will:
Aging In Place
Most people want to remain in their own home as long as possible.
This class will:
Building Cognitive Reserve Through Brain Fitness
Learn what you can do to protect yourself against memory loss and cognitive slow down. There is hope!
This class will:
Eldercare Assistance from a Distance
Today, it is common for family members to live miles, if not states or continents apart. While long distances can make it harder to care for parents and other relatives, there is also much you can do from a distance to ensure safety for your relative and peace of mind for yourself.
Join us to:
Making Meaning from Your Caregiver Experience
Caregiving can easily be all-consuming, overwhelming and draining. It is also considered by many to be one of the most meaningful. And it is becoming a normal experience that we can all expect to participate in, multiple times. Participants in this class can be in the midst of caregiving, in a hiatus, or looking back on their experience.
Join with others looking to:
Caregiving As An Only Child or Sole Caregiver
A significant number of people describe themselves as sole caregivers. Often, these are only children without siblings to share caregiving burdens, costs, decision-making, and support.
Join us to:
When Empathy Leads to Apathy - Understanding & Preventing Compassion Fatigue & Burnout
Most people report that caregiving brings a strong sense of meaning to their lives. However, at the same time, caring for others can be intense, stressful, and overwhelming. Caring can come with a cost. Caregivers sometimes think they cannot do it anymore. The very ability to provide care with empathy and compassion can set caregivers up for compassion fatigue and burnout, which is not good for caregivers or the people who rely on them. Learn ways to avoid the burnout stage.
Join us to:
Third Shift: Balancing Work, Life & Eldercare
The work / life balance is a familiar struggle, but what happens when caregiving is added to the mix? Although caregiving is a normal life stage these days, it can easily overwhelm the delicate balance. There are no easy answers, but it can help to think through your options systematically with a gerontologist and support from others on the same journey.
Join us to:
Being Mortal: Documentary Film Screening & Discussion
Borrow My Glasses is one of the organizations licensed by the Hospice Foundation of America to screen the PBS Frontline documentary Being Mortal at no charge and facilitate discussions. We often do this in collaboration with AARP CT. Based on the best-selling book by Dr. Atul Gawande, this film explores the hopes of patients and families facing terminal illness and their relationships with the doctors, nurses and family members who care for them.
MOLST: The Newest Advance Care Planning Tool to Boost Discussion & Decision-Making (1.5 hours)
Join us to learn practical aspects of MOLST and other advance care planning tools, while gaining perspective on the important role healthcare professionals can play in helping patients and families make end of life decisions. Advance care planning resources will be shared.
Join us to:
Caregiver Pointers to Get You Through the Holidays (2 hours)
As fun as it is to get ready for the holidays, it can also be incredibly stressful for family caregivers. Take a few minutes ahead of the holiday season to think with a gerontologist, Donna Fedus, founder of Borrow My Glasses about:
Engaging Aging Series
Each workshop in this series, originally created for the Connecticut Community Foundation, aims to raise capacity among professionals to serve older adults and family caregivers sharing:
The following workshop topics are currently part of the series:
Considering Aging: Considering Your Future Planning for Longevity
This workshop aims to help organizations, towns, regions, or specific fields/disciplines to focus on aging issues in a quickly changing landscape.
Join us to:
Give Up the Guilt: Unpacking Guilt From Your Emotional Baggage
If you have family caregiving responsibilities and are a human being, you almost certainly carry some guild in your emotional baggage. Join us to consider a different itinerary for your caregiving journey, without lugging around excessive and often exhausting guilt. Learn what you might want to pack instead of guilt to be the best caregiver you can be and enjoy more of your caregiving experience.
Bringing Generations Together (3-4 hours)
Despite the myth of heightened competition between generations, interdependence and interest in more connection are often the reality. How can we engage people of varying ages to foster creative partnerships, build relationships and address community needs?
During this program we will:
Examining real world examples will prepare you to expand intergenerational programs in your own community and organization.
LGBT Individuals Living with Dementia (3 hours)
Increasing vulnerability is typical for everyone experiencing dementia. It can be even more complex for individuals who identify as LGBT, especially when escalating care needs necessitate the involvement of people outside of the individual's immediate support circle. With both dementia incidence and the number of people identifying as LGBT growing, aging services professionals of all levels and roles will benefit from greater cultural competence in recognizing and anticipating issues and in providing dignified care to LGBT individuals living with dementia.
Join us to:
Living with Palliative Care: Joan's Story (2 hour panel discussion- panelists may vary)
Joan Blumenfield's end-of-life journey was unexpectedly transformed by palliative care. She was so inspired, that she dedicated the last year of her life to teach others about the benefits of palliative care. Joan's experience also sparked a documentary film and education project called Living With Palliative Care. Join us to see video clips from the film and learn about palliative care from a multi-disciplinary panel of professionals who cared for and supported Joan throughout her illness.
Panelists may include
Living With Palliative Care (2 hour CEC workshop)
Palliative Care is surrounded by many misconceptions, among patients and families who could benefit from it as well as healthcare professionals who could use it to support patients with serious illness. Join us to learn more about palliative care, including how it differs from Hospice and how it can benefit patients facing serious illness. See video clips from a documentary film and education program called Living With Palliative Care, which shows how one 85-year-old woman's end-of-life journey was transformed by palliative care.
Join us to:
Palliative Care in the Evolving Healthcare Landscape: Improving Quality of Life, Reducing Readmissions
Palliative Care is simultaneously gaining traction as a paradigm-shifting specialty and is also surrounded by misconceptions. Using real case studies, learn how palliative care can reduce hospital readmissions and unnecessary emergency room visits while improving quality of life for patients. This program will include video clips from Living With Palliative Care, a documentary film and education project based on the end of life journey of Joan Blumenfield, which was unexpectedly transformed by palliative care.
Join us to:
We're Living Longer: Is Your Business Ready? Is Your Family Ready?
We live in a time of unprecedented longevity. Never before in history have people functioned so well into the 8th, 9th and 10th decades of life. The longevity trend impacts every business and family, bringing both opportunity and challenges. The issues get more complex when families work together.
Business owners will gain a significant competitive advantage by considering the implications of the longevity trend. Planning ahead for predictable workforce issues prevent them from becoming unforeseen emergencies.
Here are just a few of the questions that will be addressed in this interactive workshop:
The Effects of the Aging Trend of Your Business
Business owners need to understand the changing landscape and trends that could impact your industry and organization. Longevity (or the aging of our population) is one major trend you may not have considered. The longevity trend will impact people of all ages, not just the oldest, and businesses of all types, not just those that directly serve older customers. Participants will gain a significant competitive advantage by considering implications of the longevity trend, which will impact employees of all ages as well as a multitude of business decisions.
Join us to explore:
Navigating Eldercare Crisis and Transition (2 hour CEC workshop for professionals)
What causes an eldercare crisis or need for a transition? This guiding question will be addressed in both conceptual and practical ways throughout the workshop. Participants will improve their ability to navigate eldercare crises and transitions by considering both macro- and micro-level issues that contribute. They will analyze processes, sharpen assessment skills, and determine ways to proactively address issues with families, in hopes of preventing or shortening eldercare crises in a variety of care settings.
Join us to:
Communication & Enrichment Strategies for People Living with Alzheimer's
Join us to:
Working with Veterans with Dementia and PTSD (2 hour workshop)
Veterans who had been in combat or otherwise experienced trauma during their service may have been able to function day to day without major symptoms of PTSD... until they experienced dementia as older adults. These veterans would not have sought treatment for PTSD. However, with the loss of connection to present day reality orientation, and possible beliefs that they are back in time, old traumas could be triggered, regardless of whether the veterans ever recognized, experienced or treated PTSD when they returned home. This program offers useful perspectives and strategies to current day caregivers of older veterans.
Join us to:
Smarter Stress Management
Join us to:
- Decipher what you’ve seen.
- Understand what it means.
- Determine what to do about it.
- Decide whether you have to do anything at all.
Navigating Eldercare Crises & Transitions
Mom fell. Dad is being discharged from the hospital next week. Sudden changes and transitions can easily overwhelm spouses and adult children.
This class will:
- Help you think through your options.
- Identify home and community-based services.
- Set up a short-term plan in response to the crisis.
- Consider long-term options.
- Last minute registrations accepted – we get it – it’s difficult to plan for this.
Aging In Place
Most people want to remain in their own home as long as possible.
This class will:
- Identity categories of services and housing that exist in virtually every community in America.
- Review scenarios that might prompt a change in housing now or in the future.
- Determine which options make sense for your situation.
Building Cognitive Reserve Through Brain Fitness
Learn what you can do to protect yourself against memory loss and cognitive slow down. There is hope!
This class will:
- Explain the scientific principles behind brain fitness.
- Share the criteria for what makes something a brain fitness activity.
- Explore some of the leading computerized brain fitness programs.
- Offer dozens of no-cost brain fitness strategies to use in your daily life.
- Introduce the concept of cognitive reserve.
- And good news – dark chocolate will be involved!
Eldercare Assistance from a Distance
Today, it is common for family members to live miles, if not states or continents apart. While long distances can make it harder to care for parents and other relatives, there is also much you can do from a distance to ensure safety for your relative and peace of mind for yourself.
Join us to:
- Consider what you can do from a distance.
- Identify local resources you can tap to be your ears, eyes, and hands-on help.
- Learn search strategies to find assistance through technology.
- Explore ways to establish local support networks and coordinate with local caregivers, whether they are family members, volunteers, or paid help.
- Navigate local / long-distance sibling conflicts.
- Plan ahead to make the most of your visit.
- Find ways to understand and address your stress.
Making Meaning from Your Caregiver Experience
Caregiving can easily be all-consuming, overwhelming and draining. It is also considered by many to be one of the most meaningful. And it is becoming a normal experience that we can all expect to participate in, multiple times. Participants in this class can be in the midst of caregiving, in a hiatus, or looking back on their experience.
Join with others looking to:
- Make sense of the caregiving journey.
- Create a timeline charting your journey as a caregiver.
- Gain support from other caregivers by borrowing their glasses, and sharing yours.
- Share resources for people at various stages of grieving.
Caregiving As An Only Child or Sole Caregiver
A significant number of people describe themselves as sole caregivers. Often, these are only children without siblings to share caregiving burdens, costs, decision-making, and support.
Join us to:
- Strategize with other sole caregivers who may be facing similar struggles.
- Find ways to support each other.
- Determine ways to add both paid and unpaid members to your care team.
- Learn about computerized services that can help organize caregiving details.
When Empathy Leads to Apathy - Understanding & Preventing Compassion Fatigue & Burnout
Most people report that caregiving brings a strong sense of meaning to their lives. However, at the same time, caring for others can be intense, stressful, and overwhelming. Caring can come with a cost. Caregivers sometimes think they cannot do it anymore. The very ability to provide care with empathy and compassion can set caregivers up for compassion fatigue and burnout, which is not good for caregivers or the people who rely on them. Learn ways to avoid the burnout stage.
Join us to:
- Learn the warning signs of compassion fatigue and burnout.
- Discuss the importance of and practice setting healthy boundaries.
- Explore a wide variety of strategies to address or prevent compassion fatigue and burnout.
Third Shift: Balancing Work, Life & Eldercare
The work / life balance is a familiar struggle, but what happens when caregiving is added to the mix? Although caregiving is a normal life stage these days, it can easily overwhelm the delicate balance. There are no easy answers, but it can help to think through your options systematically with a gerontologist and support from others on the same journey.
Join us to:
- Define what needs to be done and who can help
- Decide when and how to do it yourself or to delegate
- Discuss ways to set respectful boundaries with your elders
- Discover ways to add respite to your list when you don’t feel like you have a minute to spare
Being Mortal: Documentary Film Screening & Discussion
Borrow My Glasses is one of the organizations licensed by the Hospice Foundation of America to screen the PBS Frontline documentary Being Mortal at no charge and facilitate discussions. We often do this in collaboration with AARP CT. Based on the best-selling book by Dr. Atul Gawande, this film explores the hopes of patients and families facing terminal illness and their relationships with the doctors, nurses and family members who care for them.
MOLST: The Newest Advance Care Planning Tool to Boost Discussion & Decision-Making (1.5 hours)
Join us to learn practical aspects of MOLST and other advance care planning tools, while gaining perspective on the important role healthcare professionals can play in helping patients and families make end of life decisions. Advance care planning resources will be shared.
Join us to:
- Describe Advance Care Planning Tools
- List key similarities and differences between Advance Directives and MOLST
- Discuss the tole of healthcare professionals to support families in end of life decision making
Caregiver Pointers to Get You Through the Holidays (2 hours)
As fun as it is to get ready for the holidays, it can also be incredibly stressful for family caregivers. Take a few minutes ahead of the holiday season to think with a gerontologist, Donna Fedus, founder of Borrow My Glasses about:
- The best ways to include your elder in holiday celebrations
- Ways to keep the increased hustle and bustle holiday energy from overwhelming those with dementia
- How to uphold traditions and create new, more appropriate ways to celebrate
- "New math" that helps you keep the holiday festive
Engaging Aging Series
Each workshop in this series, originally created for the Connecticut Community Foundation, aims to raise capacity among professionals to serve older adults and family caregivers sharing:
- Innovative new ideas
- Effective programs worth sharing
- Key concepts in gerontology
The following workshop topics are currently part of the series:
- Considering Aging: Considering Your Future Planning for Longevity
- Positive Aging: Health of Mind, Body & Spirit
- A New View of Dementia
Considering Aging: Considering Your Future Planning for Longevity
This workshop aims to help organizations, towns, regions, or specific fields/disciplines to focus on aging issues in a quickly changing landscape.
Join us to:
- Screen the documentary "Coming of Age in an Aging America"
- Discuss priority issues and options
- Showcase successes and discuss challenges
Give Up the Guilt: Unpacking Guilt From Your Emotional Baggage
If you have family caregiving responsibilities and are a human being, you almost certainly carry some guild in your emotional baggage. Join us to consider a different itinerary for your caregiving journey, without lugging around excessive and often exhausting guilt. Learn what you might want to pack instead of guilt to be the best caregiver you can be and enjoy more of your caregiving experience.
Bringing Generations Together (3-4 hours)
Despite the myth of heightened competition between generations, interdependence and interest in more connection are often the reality. How can we engage people of varying ages to foster creative partnerships, build relationships and address community needs?
During this program we will:
- Review the impact on families- from grandparents raising grandchildren to families looking to bridge a geographical distance from their relatives
- Explore successful projects from around the country (and close to home) that build friendship and understanding as well as meeting the needs of young and old
- Learn about artistic and memoir collaborations, successful models for mentoring and tutoring as well as ways of working together for better communities
- Share local examples of improving life through generational solidarity
Examining real world examples will prepare you to expand intergenerational programs in your own community and organization.
LGBT Individuals Living with Dementia (3 hours)
Increasing vulnerability is typical for everyone experiencing dementia. It can be even more complex for individuals who identify as LGBT, especially when escalating care needs necessitate the involvement of people outside of the individual's immediate support circle. With both dementia incidence and the number of people identifying as LGBT growing, aging services professionals of all levels and roles will benefit from greater cultural competence in recognizing and anticipating issues and in providing dignified care to LGBT individuals living with dementia.
Join us to:
- Recognize specific issues LGBT individuals can face throughout dementia
- Utilize case studies to describe the impact of stigma
- Discuss implications for practice and policy
Living with Palliative Care: Joan's Story (2 hour panel discussion- panelists may vary)
Joan Blumenfield's end-of-life journey was unexpectedly transformed by palliative care. She was so inspired, that she dedicated the last year of her life to teach others about the benefits of palliative care. Joan's experience also sparked a documentary film and education project called Living With Palliative Care. Join us to see video clips from the film and learn about palliative care from a multi-disciplinary panel of professionals who cared for and supported Joan throughout her illness.
Panelists may include
- Donna Fedus, Gerontologist & Founder, Borrow My Glasses & Project Director, Living With Palliatice Care
- Heather Sung, MD, PalliMD, PLLC
- Susan Sweitzer, Palliative Care Adviser, Living With Palliative Care
Living With Palliative Care (2 hour CEC workshop)
Palliative Care is surrounded by many misconceptions, among patients and families who could benefit from it as well as healthcare professionals who could use it to support patients with serious illness. Join us to learn more about palliative care, including how it differs from Hospice and how it can benefit patients facing serious illness. See video clips from a documentary film and education program called Living With Palliative Care, which shows how one 85-year-old woman's end-of-life journey was transformed by palliative care.
Join us to:
- Define palliative care and distinguish it from Hospice
- Outline a generalist level of palliative care knowledge
- Demonstrate palliative care through an in-depth video-based case study
- Discuss the benefits of choosing palliative care to address serious illness
Palliative Care in the Evolving Healthcare Landscape: Improving Quality of Life, Reducing Readmissions
Palliative Care is simultaneously gaining traction as a paradigm-shifting specialty and is also surrounded by misconceptions. Using real case studies, learn how palliative care can reduce hospital readmissions and unnecessary emergency room visits while improving quality of life for patients. This program will include video clips from Living With Palliative Care, a documentary film and education project based on the end of life journey of Joan Blumenfield, which was unexpectedly transformed by palliative care.
Join us to:
- Describe how and where palliative care works through real case studies
- Recognize how palliative care can impact hospital utilization and patient quality of life
- Discuss practical ways clinicians and non-clinicians can support patients and families as generalists and specialists in palliative care
We're Living Longer: Is Your Business Ready? Is Your Family Ready?
We live in a time of unprecedented longevity. Never before in history have people functioned so well into the 8th, 9th and 10th decades of life. The longevity trend impacts every business and family, bringing both opportunity and challenges. The issues get more complex when families work together.
Business owners will gain a significant competitive advantage by considering the implications of the longevity trend. Planning ahead for predictable workforce issues prevent them from becoming unforeseen emergencies.
Here are just a few of the questions that will be addressed in this interactive workshop:
- What is the magnitude of the longevity trend?
- How are needs of our workforce and customers likely to change in the years to come?
- How do employees meet family caregiving responsibilities? How does caregiving impact the business?
- Where are opportunities for innovation?
- Does the management team share the same assumptions about succession?
- How are retirement trends changing? Have we created transition options?
- In a family business, what do we do if we see a health or cognitive issue in a member?
- What resources are available?
The Effects of the Aging Trend of Your Business
Business owners need to understand the changing landscape and trends that could impact your industry and organization. Longevity (or the aging of our population) is one major trend you may not have considered. The longevity trend will impact people of all ages, not just the oldest, and businesses of all types, not just those that directly serve older customers. Participants will gain a significant competitive advantage by considering implications of the longevity trend, which will impact employees of all ages as well as a multitude of business decisions.
Join us to explore:
- What is the longevity trend and what is its magnitude in Connecticut?
- How are the needs of our workforce and customers likely to change in the years to come?
- What strategic opportunities does the longevity trend present to businesses?
Navigating Eldercare Crisis and Transition (2 hour CEC workshop for professionals)
What causes an eldercare crisis or need for a transition? This guiding question will be addressed in both conceptual and practical ways throughout the workshop. Participants will improve their ability to navigate eldercare crises and transitions by considering both macro- and micro-level issues that contribute. They will analyze processes, sharpen assessment skills, and determine ways to proactively address issues with families, in hopes of preventing or shortening eldercare crises in a variety of care settings.
Join us to:
- describe macro- and micro-level caregiving trends that contribute to eldercare crises and care transitions
- Recognize early warning signs of a crisis or need for a care transition
- Identify prevention opportunities
- Generate a list of concrete tools for use in various care settings
Communication & Enrichment Strategies for People Living with Alzheimer's
Join us to:
- Outline better communication strategies for people living with Alzheimer's
- Describe person-centered enrichment activities throughout Alzheimer's
- Ultimate goal: Peace, Joy, Engagement & Connection
Working with Veterans with Dementia and PTSD (2 hour workshop)
Veterans who had been in combat or otherwise experienced trauma during their service may have been able to function day to day without major symptoms of PTSD... until they experienced dementia as older adults. These veterans would not have sought treatment for PTSD. However, with the loss of connection to present day reality orientation, and possible beliefs that they are back in time, old traumas could be triggered, regardless of whether the veterans ever recognized, experienced or treated PTSD when they returned home. This program offers useful perspectives and strategies to current day caregivers of older veterans.
Join us to:
- Describe typical veterans in today's older generations, many of whom never sought treatment for PTSD
- Discuss ways in which old traumas could be triggered for veterans living with dementia
- Outline perspectives and care strategies for current day caregivers of older veterans living with dementia
Smarter Stress Management
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For Family Caregivers (Alzheimer's / Dementia Track)
All courses 2 hours
Facing Forgetfulness
Everyone will experience some memory loss and word-finding difficulty as they age. EVERYONE. How can you tell if your case – or the case of someone you care about – stretches beyond normal age-related change?
Join us to:
Alzheimer's Caregiving: Bringing the Ideas Home
Imagine what its like to lose your way around a home you’ve lived in for decades. There are many strategies to help decrease frustration and agitation and maintain success and independence for as long as possible.
Join us to:
Successful Communication Given "Alzheimer's Logic"
Changes in long-standing communication patterns can be wildly frustrating for individuals with Alzheimer’s as well as for their caregivers. Communication problems can also trigger emotional reactions. But communication patterns are expected to change throughout Alzheimer’s. This class will help you crack the code in the early to middle stages.
Join us to:
What We Know About Alzheimer’s Prevention
We don’t yet know how to prevent Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. But we do know what puts you at risk for and protects you from cognitive impairment.
Join us to:
Join us to:
- Distinguish normal age-related forgetfulness from indicators of a more serious cognitive impairment.
- Learn the difference between reversible and irreversible dementia. Yes, some dementia can be reversed.
- Explore the benefits of early diagnosis.
- Learn the steps involved in cognitive evaluation and how to find an evaluation site anywhere in the country.
Alzheimer's Caregiving: Bringing the Ideas Home
Imagine what its like to lose your way around a home you’ve lived in for decades. There are many strategies to help decrease frustration and agitation and maintain success and independence for as long as possible.
Join us to:
- Understand home design decisions that work for people with Alzheimer’s.
- See how the use of color and contrast can improve success in daily living.
- Find out how safety devices can help people in early and moderate stage Alzheimer’s.
Successful Communication Given "Alzheimer's Logic"
Changes in long-standing communication patterns can be wildly frustrating for individuals with Alzheimer’s as well as for their caregivers. Communication problems can also trigger emotional reactions. But communication patterns are expected to change throughout Alzheimer’s. This class will help you crack the code in the early to middle stages.
Join us to:
- Decipher “Alzheimer’s logic”—there is logic there.
- Learn communication techniques for paranoia, blaming others, and memory battles.
- Consider the emotional impact on both sides of the communication.
- Learn new ways of dealing with repetitive questions.
What We Know About Alzheimer’s Prevention
We don’t yet know how to prevent Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. But we do know what puts you at risk for and protects you from cognitive impairment.
Join us to:
- Find out which foods to eat and avoid.
- Understand how exercise builds new neurons, and why this is important.
- Explore the role of meaningful activity in brain health.
