Free Alzheimer’s training now available to family caregivers

Home Instead Senior Care is offering a unique approach to help families manage the challenges of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, diseases that eventually rob older people of their memories and independence. Free training for family caregivers is now available through Confidence to Care workshops in Dungarvan and Waterford, taking place on the first Thursday and third Tuesday of the month respectively.

The inaugural workshops will take place in the Park Hotel Dungarvan on Thursday, March 7th and at Respond at St. John’s College, The Folly, Waterford on Tuesday, March 19th.

This workshop is specially designed for family caregivers and offers a personal approach to help families care for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease at home. 60 to 70% of people with dementia in Ireland currently live at home in the community and rely on family caregivers.

“Until there is a cure, we offer an interim solution,” said Danette Connolly, Director of Care, Home Instead Waterford. “The purpose of the Alzheimer’s Confidence to Care Workshop is to support family caregivers when it comes to understanding dementias and providing care at home for a loved one.”

The Home Instead Senior Care network assembled the top experts in Alzheimer’s disease across the globe to develop this new training and support programme for family caregivers.

“The training we’re offering to families is the same kind of training our professional CAREGivers receive. We want to support family caregivers, help them better understand this condition and encourage them care for themselves while also caring for loved ones.”

The workshop for family caregivers consists of Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementias Overview; Capturing Life’s Journey; Techniques to Manage Behaviours; and Activities to Encourage Engagement. A free kit is available for those who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Also called Confidence to Care, the kit includes advice and resources to help families keep the home safe for a person with a dementia as well as advice on caring for the caregiver.

“Confidence to Care is a wonderful hands-on approach that helps caregivers deal with the behavioural changes that too often accompany these disorders – one of the biggest stressors for caregivers,” said Dr. Jane F. Potter, who served on the expert panel to help develop content for the Alzheimer’s Confidence to Care training workshop.

For more information about the free Confidence to Care workshops, call Home Instead Senior Care Waterford on 051 333966 or visit www.homeinstead.ie.