Caregiver Academy offers support to family caregivers across the community

Chesapeake Life Center has launched the Caregiver Academy, a new program that gives family caregivers emotional support, practical education and hands-on skills training. The Academy is open to all family caregivers in the community.

"The counties we serve have some of the highest concentrations of dementia patients in Maryland," said Josh Magariel, director of service excellence and community health at Hospice of the Chesapeake. "We're responding to clear evidence of increased demand, and the Caregiver Academy is part of that response. We opened it to any family caregiver, whether or not their loved one receives our services, because we believe our role is to support healthy aging in place and care for people in the community."

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The academy offers three ways to participate. Caregivers can join one or all three, in any order. There is no required sequence.

Virtual Caregiver Support Group -- Held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month on Zoom, the support group is led by licensed clinical social worker Khiana Simmons and offers emotional support, stress management and connection with other caregivers. These sessions are free and participants are never required to speak. Upcoming sessions are Nov. 12 and Dec. 10.

Virtual Caregiver Education Series -- Held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month on Zoom, the education series is led by clinical practice specialist for nursing Michelle Welle-Countiss. Each session offers practical instruction drawn from a 12-topic curriculum developed by Dr. Mary Lynn McPherson, Executive Director of Graduate Studies in Palliative Care at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Topics include communication, difficult behaviors, personal care, eating and swallowing, skin and wound care, mobility and falls and end-of-life changes. Topics are grouped so that caregivers joining in any month receive both an overview and practical content. Upcoming sessions are Oct. 27, Nov. 24 and Dec. 22.

Bedside Boot Camp -- This is a four-hour, hands-on workshop facilitated by Michelle Welle-Countiss with Alena Dailey, the manager of integrative arts and Chesapeake Life Center. Caregivers can practice transfers, bathing, incontinence care, feeding and positioning, and take part in immersive empathy training. At the end of the session, caregivers will leave able to do something they may not have been able to do that morning. Sessions are held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on:

• Monday, Nov. 9, in the Lovelace Learning Lab on the John & Cathy Belcher Campus in Pasadena, Maryland
• Wednesday, Dec. 9, in the simulation lab at the Charles Inpatient Care Center in Waldorf, Maryland.

Each Bedside Boot Camp session is limited to six participants. Registration is required, and a waitlist is available.

Family caregivers, and the healthcare professionals and community organizations who work with them, can learn more and register at https://bit.ly/CLCCaregiverAcademy or by emailing caregiveracademy@chesapeakelifecenter.org.

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Chesapeake Life Center, a program service of Hospice of the Chesapeake, serves hospice family members and the community with bereavement services and activities aimed at enhancing the quality of life for those grieving the loss of a loved one. For details, visit www.chesapeakelifecenter.org.