Electronic Caregiver Connections

by Sally Friedman

Senior Services of Seattle King County offers many ways for a caregiver to receive support. One way is through the Internet and e-mail. Caregiving spans 24 hours a day, often including late at night or during lunch breaks, when caregivers have time to write in a journal, or have questions they would like answered.

You can e-mail questions to information and assistance advocates, or look on our web pages for resources in the community. If you click on Caregiver Connection, you will find a list of choices just for caregivers, including a calendar that lets you know of classes and workshops, journaling, message boards and links to other sites for information that is helpful to caregivers. 

Two interactive online resources

On our Caregiver Message Boards, you can interact in real time with people who are going through the same things you are. Through Caregiver Connection, we hope to give you an avenue to a wonderful source of support, a private space where you can receive and provide support, encouragement, comfort, a reality check, knowledge, and compassion. Create a support group or build a network of friends. Participate in a venue where people meet for communicating their needs, wants, desires, experiences and feelings using their voice to create letters, stories, poetry, quotations, etc. Help yourself as well as others navigate through the trenches of being caregiver.

The second online interactive resource is a caregiver journal, like an open diary or "weblog." On our Online Journals, you can read daily accounts of the trials and tribulations as well as the successes and satisfaction of other caregivers. If you'd like to hear some of our experiences, family stories, share in things we've tried that worked and sympathize with the things that didn't work, feel free to share in our stories.

And consider keeping a journal of your own where you record all your feelings, hopes, dreams and disappointments. It is a good way to reduce stress and can be a cathartic tool, increasing creativity, enhancing your immune system, deepening your spiritual life, helping to generating insights. The letter that was never sent, the things better left unsaid setting them down in writing is a safe method of dealing with ideas and emotions that you may be afraid to express in any other manner. Journal writing can help with your immediate worries; later, revisiting your writing can provide a window into how you once felt and how far you have come. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do it! Consider availing yourself of this powerful method for taking charge of your life. Use it to discover who you are and who you want to be. E-mail us to register for your own journal.

Here are some quotes from the online journals:

"It is so much easier to tell someone that I know how hard it is to watch your parents make choices that you don't think are the best. To watch your parents not be more assertive with their health care. To watch your mother want to do it all herself and hope she doesn't get sick. To wonder if your Dad is strong enough to drive. So that is what I am doing, just being there, calling and hoping for the best. My mom called me Sally Reality the other day. I was trying to tell her Dad might get a little stronger, but he did have a progressive disease. She said, 'Sally Reality, I will deal with that when I have to.' I guess I will too."

"We all have to struggle with our changes. I wonder what I will be like when I am older. Will I accept help so I can be more independent? Or will I try to keep control by fighting? I guess we shall see."

For more information...

Visit the Senior Services website  to see what we have to offer; click on "The Caregiver Connection" to connect to the community resources, calendar, journal, message boards and links to other programs.

If you would like help in using the site, you can email us at info@seniorservices.org or call us at 206-448-3110, 10888-435-3377 and we can assist you in getting the information.

Sally Friedman is the Senior Services Caregiver Advocate for Senior Services of Seattle-King County