STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Journey Continues…
ROBERT DWYER, PH.D.
alone, with no one to speak with,
no place to find answers to the questions that abound.
JOHN BELDING
PEGGY ELDER
Central Massachusetts Agency on
Aging has developed a new and exciting section of our website called:
“Helping an Older Adult: A Caregiver’s Journey.”
JENNIFER FINI
NICOLE JIMINO
DEBBIE MCARDLE
EILEEN O’BRIEN
CATHY PICKERING
Robert P. Dwyer, Ph.D., Executive Director
JANE WHEARLEY
Preparing for the holidays is often
family and communal work. Whether
Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas,
Eid or Kwanzaa, these events bring
together families and neighbors. Often they are intergenerational and involve myriad ages, cultures, abilities,
as well as dreams and hopes and
memories.
CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
AGENCY ON AGING (CMAA)
360 WEST BOYLSTON STREET
WEST BOYLSTON, MA 01583
CALL: VOICE/TDD
(508) 852-5539
(800) 244-3032
FAX: (508) 852-5425
EMAIL US AT INFO@
SENIORCONNECTION.ORG
WEBSITE:
WWW.SENIORCONNECTION.ORG
WINTER 2012
Winter 2012-2013
And whether we like it or not, these
times may also bring about moments,
even days, filled with stress and frustration, even anger and depression.
These feelings may double with the
feeling of guilt that we even have
these feelings during this period of
time, and become even greater when
they are a product of caring for someone we love.
Caregiver stress is highly prevalent.
Most caregivers do experience it, and
usually feel lost when it happens.
Some will go into denial; others will fall
into deep depression, while others
may get physically ill in this process.
Yet one of the most common features
of all of this is that feeling of being
In this new addition to
www.SeniorConnection.org , caregivers will find numerous articles on varied topics that will go a long way toward answering the questions a caregiver may have around housing, Medicare and Medicaid, transportation,
other government benefits, and even
on the issue of the end of life.
Integral to this website is also a special survey that caregivers can use to
not only identify their stress, but
gauge it’s level and compare this to
the stress level of others who have
taken this survey. Developed in Conjunction with faculty and students at
UMass Medical School, this survey
will help a caregiver understand that
they are not alone and that help is as
close as the next page.
Are you a caregiver? Are you confused as to how or why you feel the
way you do? Do you think you are
alone in this? You are invited to share
in this Caregiver’s Journey. Whether
it’s about you or a loved one or a
friend, the journey continues on and
there is NO REASON to travel alone.
Check us out. You’ll like what you
find.
is now available on our website
www.SeniorConnection.org!
A caregiver is any individual who is assisting an older adult in anyway. Caregivers are
friends, neighbors and family members who help older adults with matters including health
care, financial matters, household chores, social opportunities and transportation. Caregiving
can be a very rewarding experience; however this added role in a caregiver’s already busy
life may provide new challenges. Caregivers may find themselves with little time to tend to
their own health, family, work and social responsibilities. Because of this we have created a
new section of our website that will help caregivers identify the level of stress and burden
that is associated with their caregiving role. Helping An Older Adult: A Caregiver’s Journey
has two parts;
&
The caregiver checkup is a survey that was developed in partnership with the Population
Health Clerkship at UMass Medical School. Twelve medical students and two doctors from
the school worked with us to create a survey that would identify the stress and burden levels
a caregiver is experiencing. The survey is a series of questions and at the end of the survey
a caregiver will receive a score that will indicate their individual level of stress and burden.
Along with their personal score a caregiver will also see the average score of other caregivers, like themselves, who have previously taken the survey. After taking the survey we encourage each caregiver to take advantage of the wealth of information provided in the Caregiver CrossRoads.
The Caregiver CrossRoads provides comprehensive information about topics that relate to
caregiving and older adults. Each Caregiver CrossRoad includes an in-depth discussion of
the topic, a glossary of terms that relate to the topic, a list of links to outside websites that are
helpful and a pre-populated list of search terms that will provide contact information for agencies and programs that provide services related to this topic. The Caregiver CrossRoad we
suggest each caregiver begin their journey with is the Caregiver’s Hub. This Caregiver
CrossRoad defines what a caregiver is and the stress and burdens that are associated with
this role. It will also guide a caregiver through the supportive resources that are available to
them on their journey. The remaining Caregiver CrossRoads cover topics such as medical
and mental well-being, available benefits, legal and financial matters, home and personal
safety concerns, community services, respite options, housing, transportation, and end of life
care. Our hope is that Helping An Older Adult: A Caregiver’s Journey will ease the stress and
burden associated with the caregiving role by offering valuable information to empower individual caregivers.
Winter 2012-2013
Positive Affirmations
by Eric Leverone,
CMAA Associate
When coping with caregiver stress, the power
of positive thinking should not be underestimated. Of course managing your time, handling the many emotional ups and downs and
physical exhaustion that accompany the role
of caregiving is difficult. However, you do not
need to let negative emotions take control and
allow them to interfere with your quality of daily
living. You are in the driver’s seat when you
take control of your emotions with positive affirmations.
Positive affirmations are a great tool for turning
negative emotions into positive ones. They
help reprogram your subconscious mind to
think positively instead of negatively. In order
to make a positive affirmation you first have to
create a statement of intention. For example,
you might want to have a greater feeling of
peace, so you would make the statement “I am
feeling more peaceful every day.” Make sure
that the statement is phrased in a pro-active
and positive way. For a positive affirmation to
be effective it must be phrased as if it were
already true. Instead of saying “I want to feel
more peaceful” or “I wish I was more peaceful,” make sure to say “I am feeling more
peaceful.” You also want to be sure your making a positive affirmation that is realistic and
not too extreme. Be careful not to make such a
statement as “the entire world is my oyster and
I am the greatest person alive.” Statements
like this will cause your subconscious mind to
question its validity and label it as untrue.
Once you have created your positive affirmation, make sure you frequently say it to yourself.
Repeating it several times in the morning, afternoon, and before bed makes for an effective
Winter 2012-2013
positive affirmation that is helpful to all
stressed out caregivers. Just about any caregiver scenario that is burdened with stress will
benefit from positive affirmations. Take
Melinda for instance. She is a hardworking 50
year old caregiver for her 88 year old father
who lives at home with her. Between her day
job, babysitting for her grandchildren, and caring for her father, she has very little time to
herself for which she can rest and recharge.
Melinda feels as though her father doesn’t always appreciate all her effort and hard work.
In fact, her father sometimes complains about
what she makes for dinner. She often gets
upset and yells at her father when he does
this, and sometimes says things she regrets
later.
When this happens, she unwittingly allows her
father to control her emotions that give rise to
anger. When Melinda decides to make a positive affirmation she takes control of her emotions and doesn’t allow herself to feel unappreciated, despite her father’s complaints. She
creates the positive affirmations “I make tasty,
nutritious meals for dinner” and “I remain
happy amongst my father’s grievances.” Repeating these positive affirmations to herself
several times a day for many weeks, she
eventually finds them to be true and accomplishes them with very little effort. She has retrained her subconscious mind and now responds the way she would like to without letting her father get the better of her. Melinda’s
father still complains about dinner sometimes
but, to his surprise, she no longer yells or gets
upset. He is beginning to realize his complaints do not affect her and voices them less
often.
For Melinda and any caregiver, the power of
positive thinking is a real force with real results. It is a great tool that can only make the
quality of your daily life better. So please take
the time to examine your caregiving experience and make the positive affirmations that
are going to make your life better and less
stressful. Even if you are not convinced that a
few words repeated to yourself over and over
will make a difference, try it and you might be
surprised. Just remember to stay positive!
Central Massachusetts
Agency on Aging
360 West Boylston Street
West Boylston, MA 01583
Non-Profit Org. US
Postage
PAID
West Boylston MA
Permit No. 87
To Contact CMAA, V/TDD (508) 852-5539 or (800) 244-3032 FAX (508) 852-5425 E-Mail [email protected]
This document is made available through financial support from the Federal Administration on Aging and
the Executive Office of Elder Affairs of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Holiday Trivia
Chanukah’s Menorah symbolizes the miracle of the oil that helped the Maccabee’s stave off Greek invaders. Chanukah means “dedication” or “induction.” Following their victory over the Greeks, the Maccabee’s
rededicated the Holy Temple and its altar, which had been desecrated and defiled by the pagan invaders.
Santa Claus is a combination of many European and Middle Eastern traditions. St. Nicholas was a Bishop
of Myra, which is now in Turkey, and celebrated in Northern Europe as “Sinterclaas,” while Father Christmas was well known in Britain.
As an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and
human in the Fullest sense. The holiday, then will of necessity, be engaged as an ancient and living cultural
tradition which reflects the best of African thought and practice in its reaffirmation of the dignity of the human person in community and culture, the well-being of family and community, the integrity of the environment and our kinship with it, and the rich resource and meaning of a people's culture.
There is a Hebrew letter embossed or printed on each of the dreidel’s four sides. These four letters form
the acronym of the phrase Nes gadol hayah sham, “A great miracle happened there”—a reference to
the Chanukah miracle that transpired in the Land of Israel.
The custom of the Christmas tree developed in early modern Germany with predecessors that can be
traced to the 16th and possibly the 15th century. It acquired popularity beyond Germany during the second
half of the 19th century. The Christmas tree has also been known as the "Yule-tree", especially in discussions of its folkloristic origins.
(All of the above information was culled from the Internet, including Wikipedia and the official Kwanzaa site and
Chabad.org )
Winter 2012-2013