Workshop Descriptions

October 7, 2009

"Share the Care" for the LGBT Community: A Model for Providing Non-Medical Support
Nancy K. Bereano, 2008-2009 Cornell University Public Service Center Fellow

This workshop consists of three parts:

1. A description of the "Share the Care" for the LGBT Community project.
2. A showing of the award winning documentary, Ten More Good Years, in which LGBT elders share stories of their lives and queer history. It is through these stories that governmental and social injustices are revealed, shedding light on current reality and what it will be like to grow old as an LGBT person in America.
3. A discussion of the ways in which workshop participants' clients can benefit from the project, and how the Share the Care model can be adopted and utilized in a wide variety of community settings.

October 21, 2009

Cultural Aptitude and Rural Elders
Lindsay Lake Morgan, Assistant Professor, Decker School of Nursing

Culture is a system of shared symbols and of practices that provide security, integrity and belonging. It is fluid, constantly evolving in response to historical and other factors. Culture is more than race and ethnicity.

This workshop will explore:

• Cultural aptitude;
• How caregivers can enlarge their own skills;
• The attributes of rural culture and elders who have lived their lives in rural places;
• Strategies to approach elders from rural places.

November 4, 2009

Eden at Home: Creating Collaborative Care Partner Teams at the Grassroots Level
Laura Beck, Program Director, Eden at Home, The Eden Alternative

Eden at Home (EAH) applies the Eden Alternative's ten-principle philosophy, developed by Dr. Bill Thomas, to elders living at home. With an eye for changing the culture of care at the grassroots level, Eden at Home emphasizes building creative and collaborative care partner teams empowered by concepts central to person-directed care. Eden at Home promotes a culture of meaningful care in our communities that does not see the needs of caregivers as separate from the needs of care receivers, but rather advocates for the well being of the whole system.

This workshop will explore the challenges of introducing person-directed care concepts to the home, describe how a home can feel like an institution and distinguish care giving from care partnering.