Circumspection of Topic
Ministering to the Elderly Conference 2023

Mindfully Navigating the Caregiving Journey: Caring for Others as We Care for Ourselves

Caregiving can be a bridge to a meaningful relationship with another and may also prove to be an emotional and psychological challenge. Caregivers can range from family members to professional caregivers and many others who help support elders, such as: elder law attorneys, financial planners, geriatric social workers, nurses and clergy. Caring for another whether you are a family member or professional can be a 24/7 job with little reprieve.

Caregiving poses a concern that is significant not only to many individuals within our community, but to society itself. Approximately 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. Fifty-eight percent of caregivers are women and 20 percent of caregivers are 65 or older.  Thirty-seven percent care for a parent or parent-in-law, and 10 percent provide care to someone with dementia.  The time commitment can be significant: 50 percent of caregivers have provided care for at least two years and 30 percent for at least 20 hours per week. One in six non-caregivers expects to become a caregiver within two years.

At the midrange estimate of $196 billion annually, the economic value of caregiving is equivalent to approximately 18 percent of total national healthcare spending ($1,092 billion). Family and adult caregivers – especially older caregivers – are often at higher risk for physical and mental health. Thus, the challenges of caregiving require us as a society to consider ways to improve the quality of life and support those engaged in this sacred obligation.

We will examine mindfulness techniques and self-care strategies for all professionals and family caregivers. Additionally. we will provide resources and tools that can help you provide the best possible care. While all forms of caregiving will be considered, special attention will be given to both the opportunities for connection and challenges for those caring for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s.  We will hear a personal testimonial of someone who has cared for her spouse and has reflected on her caregiving journey.

In addition, we will frame the act of caregiving as a sacred act and a pathway to the creation of a more compassionate and interdependent society. We will mine our spiritual and religious traditions to formulate an ethic of caregiving that affirms the inherent dignity of every human being, fashioned in the image of the Divine.

Our keynote speaker, Nancy Kriseman, will offer groundbreaking ideas for caregivers to find more ease in their caregiving journey, through mindfulness techniques and self-care practices.  As a licensed clinical social worker, she will help outline the tools and resources one needs to fulfill their role as a caregiver, while balancing the other responsibilities in their lives.

Nancy Kriseman is a licensed clinical social worker, author, trainer and consultant in Atlanta, Georgia.  She retired from Geriatric Consulting Services Inc, where she worked for more than 35 years with families coping with grief, end-of-life and other elder care issues. Nancy continues to provide training and consultation to organizations.

Nancy has authored three books, Meaningful Connections: Positive Ways to Be Together When a Loved One Has Dementia, (2017); The Mindful Caregiver: Finding Ease in the Caregiving Journey, Roman and Littlefield publishers (2015) and The Caring Spirit Approach to Eldercare: A Training Guide for Professionals and Families, Health Professions Press (2005). 

Nancy will be joined by Helene Berger, who will share a personal journey.  She is the author of Choosing Joy: Alzheimer’s: A Book of Hope, and was inspired by the unanticipated, positive results that her late husband Ady achieved after his initial diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. It is a personal memoir combining concrete methodologies she learned over six years of caregiving and sets out her philosophy of caregiving along the way. Although written about her particular experience with caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, her story can apply to caring for loved ones with any type of debilitating disease.  Her personal story is a testimonial of hope, providing practical and emotional strategies to support both the caregiver and the care recipient. And all the while, it is a love story and an honest retelling of a lifetime journey.  Helene is a longtime Miamian, having served and chaired local Jewish communal boards, as well as played leadership roles with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and Jewish Federations of North America.

The conference will take place at Miami Jewish Health. Miami Jewish Health has an 80-year history offering comprehensive health services and living facilities and programs, all centered on an innovative care model grounded in empathy.

Our conference will held in person at Miami Jewish Health on June 8, 2023, from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

Objectives

At the conclusion of this keynote presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and employ mindfulness techniques that are helpful in the caregiving journey.
2. Be able to define their roles as caregivers and care providers and learn to set realistic expectations.
3. Provide at least three different tools caregivers and professionals can use to best help the individual for whom they are caring.
4. Learn how to develop a circle of support around the caregiver and care recipient.
5. Provide practical next steps to put into place as caregivers/providers/social workers/rabbis.