Issues in Aging Radio Show - 4th Monday of each month, WSVA 550 AM or 92.1 FM at 9:15 AM
Hosted by VPAS Director of Senior Services in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Beth Bland.
Listen to a podcast of the Sept. 24 show, featuring special guest and VPAS Medicare Counselor, Howard Houghton.
Presented by: Nancy Shomo, Sentara RMH Coordinator of Bereavement Services
We all grieve differently and the timeline will be different for each of us. This workshop will explore how to handle the twists and turns of your grief journey and how to process the emotions that can come with it: fear, anger, loneliness, and sadness. You'll learn how to turn your grief into a tool to help others at a different place in their journey, how to manage social events, and how to practice the self-care that brings healing.
$10 Program fee includes a beverage and a scone or a brownie. Held at the charming Braithwaite Studios Coffee Shop and Cafe in Dayton, where you can peruse beautiful custom glass-work or sign up for glass etching lessons. Bring a friend for this empowering morning out!
Take Charge of Your Health! Exercise, pain prevention, and chronic disease management workshops forming now.
Commonwealth Council on Aging Presented Award on May 30, 2018
Caregivers Community Network (CCN), a caregiver respite program, won a $3000 second place “Best Practices” award from the Commonwealth Council on Aging for its efforts to pair college students with family caregivers to provide intergenerational care and respite services.
CCN is a collaboration between Valley Program for Aging Services (VPAS) and James Madison University’s Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services. The partnership matches pairs of students with families that are caring for a frail older adult through the CCN course. Enrolled students provide weekly visits to provide social interaction with the care recipient while the caregiver takes a much needed break for appointments, errands, or personal care.
Locally, as many as one in three residents will be older adults by 2030, and demand for older adult caregivers is increasing rapidly. The strain on caregivers can negatively affect their health, careers, finances, and parenting. Caregivers are more likely to suffer health problems as a result of the chronic stress they experience providing often around-the-clock-care for a frail older adult. CCN eases this strain and creates opportunities for enriching intergenerational bonding.
“As the number of caregivers in Virginia grows, we need to ensure we have supports in place to keep them safe, healthy and productive,” said Kathy Guisewite, CCN coordinator. “We are thrilled that the Commonwealth Council on Aging has recognized the immense value CCN brings to families in this community.”
Each year, the council, which advises the Governor on issues affecting the 1.6 million Virginians age 60 and older, acknowledges organizations whose innovative programs can be replicated across the Commonwealth. Nominees are judged on seven criteria, including community impact potential for replication, innovation, outcomes and promotion of aging in the community.
CCN representatives accepted the Best Practices award from the Commonwealth Council on Aging during a presentation Wednesday, May 30 at JMU’s Leeolou Alumni Center.
VPAS empowers adults 60 years and over with the resources and opportunities they need to lead engaged lives. With information and referral services, Medicare counseling, senior transportation, recreational programming, meal delivery, and in-home personal care available throughout five counties in the Shenandoah Valley, VPAS has been serving older adults and their families for more than 40 years.
