Authentic, inclusive, creative, joy, tears & learning - just for you
Sorry to have missed my March communication but things have been crazy busy in all the best ways, yay!
The social media campaign Caregiver As CEO aka Chief Everything Officer ran for about six weeks and was a monumental success. I-Ally Inc and I are already working on what’s next for this educational effort. If you were able to catch all or some of it and have some feedback, please respond to this email and let me know your thoughts.
In addition, I have been doing beaucoup speaking, both virtual and in-person – so rewarding. The topics/audiences fall into two categories:
1. Continuing Education for Professionals such physicians, nurses, doulas, social workers, chaplains, bereavement counselors, etc., who are benefiting from learning both the stats and the stories of family caregiving. One program I have done as a Grand Rounds, a palliative care conference breakout session, and for graduate nursing students is called, The Head and Heart of the Family Caregiver: A Colorful Case Study. The evaluation scores on this educational session are very high and the discussions and questions stimulated by it indicate that professionals are learning both the plight of the family caregiver and what a huge asset they can be in the provision of care and planning. Another program is called, Until It Happens to You: Insights to Benefit Professionals.
2. The Folks, the Peeps, the End Users, ya know, the people. Perhaps they are family caregivers themselves, adult learning groups associated with churches and communities, grievers, or people who just want to be better friends. Those talks include titles such as: Memories, Messages & Artistic Remixes, Polishing the Golden Rule, The Art of Healing, Caregiver Support, and others. The programs have also been very well received. People seem so grateful that we are now having open conversations about profound, universal topics – such as family caregiving, death preparation, grief and loss – that previously were considered taboo. And if you think we all sit around and boohoo during these programs, you are mistaken. Tears are certainly welcome AND there is laughter, joy and a sense of belonging that just cannot be beat. “Authentic,” “inclusive,” “creative,” “accepting,” are some of the terms that come to mind as I describe these sessions.
As some of you know, I have spent my 35-year career teaching physicians and other healthcare professionals, so speaking and education is a natural fit for me. Kind of wild to think I started out with such a narrow niche in terms of audience and topic and now I lead discussions about universal, it-happens-to-everyone, undeniable sort of the stuff. Who knew? 😊