The next session of Alzheimer’s Association Family Caregivers Support Group, hosted by the Suffield Community Aid, happens on November 26 at the Suffield Senior Center. Home Helpers'Nicole Matson mediates the group.
The group meets on the last Tuesday of every month, at 11 am (unless it is a holiday). For additional information, please call Nicole at (860) 810-6123.
I always say that when Alzheimer’s disease strikes, it doesn’t hit only one person. It beats the whole family because of the chronic stress of watching a loved one slowly decline. It hits more specifically those who step up to take the role of caregiver. Most of the time, family caregivers are moved by a sense of duty and compassion towards their loved ones. It is common to underestimate the burden of caring for a relative with the disease from both the emotional and physical points of view.
For this reason, caregivers must focus on their own needs, take time for their personal health, and get support and respite from caregiving regularly to be able to sustain their well-being during this caregiving journey. Emotional and practical support, counseling, resource information, and educational programs about Alzheimer's disease all help a caregiver provide the best possible care for a loved one.
That’s why Home Helpers teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Association and Suffield Community Aid to sponsor and moderate an Alzheimer’s Family Caregivers Support Group, on the last Tuesday of every month, at Suffield Community Aid.
The group is mediated by Home Helpers Community Care Coordinator, Nicole Matson, who is a trained Dementia Support Group leader for the Alzheimer’s Association of America. Nicole counts with more than a decade of experience working in the field of therapeutic recreation and as an Alzheimer’s specialist in short-term or long-term rehabilitation, respite, hospice, and dementia care.
The objective of the support group is to exchange experiences and support each other. Whenever facing difficult times, having a good support network, you can turn to for advice and encouragement may help you feel socially connected and give you a sense of belonging and purpose. Connecting with others like you may help put your own experiences living with the disease in perspective, and provide you with the support and encouragement necessary to move beyond your diagnosis.
To encourage participation, the sponsors and mediator ensure the anonymity and privacy of all participants.
About Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that nearly 15 million Americans provide unpaid care to a person living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia in older adults. The terms “Alzheimer’s” and “dementia” are often used interchangeably, but the conditions are not the same. “Dementia” is a term that means a person is no longer able to function on their own because of a lasting impairment of multiple mental abilities affecting memory, attention, and reasoning. Dementia can be caused by many different medical conditions, such as a severe head injury or significant stroke. Other common dementias are Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, and Parkinson's disease dementia.
About Home Helpers
Home Helpers is a non-medical in-home care agency assisting families who need to care for a loved one. In our agency, we hold the highest standards in quality of care, and for that reason, we have received many awards and commendations over the few years of our existence. These include:
- Best of Home Care: Provider of Choice Award in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019;
- Caring Star: Provider of Excellence 2019;
- Business of the Year 2018, by the North Central CT Chamber of Commerce;
- A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau;
- A+ rating by the Home Care Standards Bureau.
Since it started offering Home Care, Senior Care, and Alzheimer’s Care in the Suffield and Enfield region in 2015, Home Helpers has dedicated time and resources to help our community families in the difficult task that is caring for a loved one with dementia. We also engage with the Alzheimer's Association in raising funds to help end Alzheimer's through the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Enfield.
It is our philosophy to extend the knowledge and experience we gather to our community, to grow together and care for our loved ones. At Home Helpers, we care.
About the Suffield Alzheimer’s Family Caregivers Support Group
Where: Suffield Senior Center. 450, South Street, Suffield (CT), phone (860) 668-1986 (Pat Beeman).;
When: Last Tuesday of every month (unless it is a holiday), at 11 am;
Who: Open to Dementia Family Caregivers who are residents of Suffield and other adjacent cities
