Dear Eric: I am writing in response to the letter from the woman who had an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and felt isolated and lonely (“Unmatched Matchmaker”).
Your advice to her to reach out to support groups and to be more direct with her family and friends about her needs was excellent. As a board-certified health and wellness coach who focuses specifically on the needs of seniors and people of all ages living with chronic illness and disability, I wanted to offer some additional options that she and her family may want to be aware of.
First, many local elder services access points train and maintain a group of volunteer visitors for isolated elders in their community. Many city Commissions on Aging or similar also have programs like these.
Second, if the letter writer is even an occasional member of a worship community, there is probably a group within that community that organizes regular visits to people who need them. If they are not part of any faith tradition, the American Humanist Association also has a secular chaplaincy program which could be of benefit to her.
Third, something the letter writer and her family might want to consider engaging a geriatric care manager who could help them to identify supplementary services and connections in the local community that could go at least some way to alleviating her isolation.
Geriatric care managers are generally people with medical and social services training (usually nurses and social workers) who have particular expertise in creating care plans that cover medical interventions and the creation of everyday
life routines and supports for people with particular needs. This is not an inexpensive option (services from local elder support access, charitable organizations, and worship communities should of course be free) but if the writer and her family are overwhelmed, it could be a very wise investment.
– Help Available
Dear Help Available: Thank you for this very thorough response. I believe it will help a lot of people. Navigating a loss of capacity or providing care and companionship for someone who is navigating an Alzheimer’s or similar diagnosis can be very isolating. This is a great reminder to those folks that they are not alone.
Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.
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