Caregiver Support Initiative Convening: One Week Out.

 The Caregiver Support Initiative first community convening directed at the needs of unpaid family caregivers to seniors will be held one week from now. Many will gather at Washoe County Senior Services to discuss challenges and solutions related to family caregiving. Family caregiving is a significant issue that has not gotten much attention in our community.

Approximately 8,200 seniors serve as unpaid caregivers to a family member or friend in Washoe County. If you are or have been, a caregiver, you know the stress, fatigue, isolation, and financial burden that come with your job. One person providing care to her husband with Parkinson’s disease described her situation as, “extremely stressful and pretty isolating for the two of us, because we had been peers, and friends, and a married couple, and that has completely shifted, because it’s becoming more and more like I am in charge of his world. I am becoming more like his mother than his wife.” Our community convening on September 10 will be prime opportunity to learn directly learn from family caregivers to seniors about their needs. Service providers, government agencies, private enterprises, elected officials, opinion makers, and the media have been all been invited so we can hear from a variety of perspectives.

Many people have asked me about the goal of the Caregiver Support Initiative. How do you plan to help family caregivers to seniors? It is too early to say what our goals and solutions are, though. We do not go into an initiative with a particular outcome in mind. Instead, we first listen and learn from those directly affected by the issue to understand the reality of the situation.

The information we collect from the convening will be compiled to identify themes and top priorities, which will then turn into actionable items. We would love to hear from you too. If you have not already registered for the event, I strongly encourage you to attend. Here are the details: Saturday, September 10 Washoe County Senior Services 1155 E. 9^th Street Reno, NV 89512 9:00am-12:30pm Breakfast is providedRegister by September 2^nd by calling us at 775-333-5499 or reserve your space online here.