The vision for this blog is to create a community of harmonious professionals across the care continuum who encourage each other in exploring digital media as a way to support businesses and families dealing with elder care.
Written on February 16th, 2011 by tasha
David Cherry and I are presenting a workshop at April’s Management and Leadership Conference called Facebook and Hospice: A Beginner’s Workshop. During the session, we will actually construct a Facebook page for the hospice that wins our drawing.
To enter the drawing, email David at NHPCO: dcherry@nhpco.org by March 22nd.
To qualify to win, you must:
This opportunity is specifically for a hospice that does not yet have a Facebook presence. No prior experience with Facebook is required.
BTW: I don’t get paid to do these workshops. I do them simply because I am dedicated to helping families get connected with the services they need. Since family caregivers are going to the Internet, our mission is to help hospices make more effective use of this medium. Plus, I am a hospice volunteer and hospice folks are so darn wonderful, I LOVE working with this profession!
Enter the contest. Come see the results!
Written on February 16th, 2011 by tasha
Last week Facebook unveiled changes that for once did not cause users to groan. In fact, those with Fan Pages (business pages) gave a mighty cheer!
The changes now allow us to make a better separation between our personal and our private lives. For instance, in the past, if I LIKED my hospice clients’ pages or commented on my geriatric care manager clients’ pages, my teenage nieces and other personal “friends” got regaled with posts about death, dying and Internet marketing. (They have been generous about it and chalk it up to their kooky aunt/friend. But still, it can get to be a bit much.)
Now, when you want to LIKE a colleague’s fan page, or make a business-related comment, you can do so as your “Business Self.” Anyone reading your posts and interested in exploring more about you and what you are up to can click and be led to your company page, not to your personal page. (No more worries clients may see you soaked by a water balloon at the summer BBQ when what you really want them to know is the professionalism and caring you bring to your job!)
Ready to be a tad schizophrenic? Here’s how you make the change:
Written on February 7th, 2011 by tasha
A survey of 1000 family caregivers of persons over 65 further underscored the monetary impact of caregiving on families:
For more on this study, check out Caring.com.
Despite the hardships, 75% of these family caregivers also said that providing care was a source of pride because they were able to make a difference in someone’s life. This is directly in line with the research findings of Susan Folkman (of Lazarus and Folkman, stress and coping fame) who noted that the negatives and positives of caregiving exist simultaneously in the individual’s experience.
What are you encountering in your dealings with families?
Written on February 2nd, 2011 by tasha
Over the next two weeks we are running a series on family caregiver receptivity to technology solutions.
Check out our factoids on Facebook and subscribe to our periodic e-notes to receive my full analysis of a report on family caregivers and technology released by the National Alliance for Caregiving. Based on the online responses of 1000 technology-using family caregivers, the report looks at their interest and perceived barriers to 12 different categories of technology that could help with caregiving activities:
I was surprised at some of the results. I have worked with family caregivers over the last 15 years and was not aware of some of the misconceptions they seem to hold about technology. And I was in some ways surprised to discover who was most receptive to hi tech solutions. Read the rest of this entry »
