Getting sick or battling a disease like dementia is difficult for everyone involved, especially for the ones who are serving as caregivers for their suffering family member.
The St. Johns County Council on Aging Center is doing something that may help current and future caregivers with a pair of informational events pertaining to the subject coming in February at its location at Flagler Health+ Village at Nocatee.
One of the events is called “guidance through the caregiving journey” and will consist of three sessions, February 3, 10 and 24, each from 10 a.m. to noon.
Each session will focus on an entirely new lesson.
The topics of the sessions are as follows:
The lessons are designed to help answer questions that new caregivers may have about their role and the challenges they may encounter as part of their caregiver duties.
Paulette Kozlowski, adult day services manager at the COA, will be leading each of the lessons.
To RSVP for the lessons, residents must email Kozlowski at pkozlowski@stjohnscoa.com or call 904-209-3674.
Continuing with the caregiver theme will be a sperate lecture scheduled for Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. detailing the effective communication techniques caregivers can use.
Leading the lecture will be Gary Joseph LeBlanc, the educational director of the Dementia Spotlight Foundation.
He joined the foundation to help in their efforts after spending decades as a caregiver himself for family members.
LeBlanc is considered a certified specialist in dementia communication and has written several books on the topic over the years.
The Dementia Spotlight Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that was established in 2016 with the purpose of better understanding the complexities of dementia and the stigmas and fears that can often be associated with it.
According to the foundation’s website, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.
Residents can reserve their spot to hear LeBlanc by contacting Sharon Gesek by email at sgesek@stjohnscoa.com or by calling 904-460-3946.
The COA Center is located at 351 Town Plaza Ave., Suite 205 in Ponte Vedra.
