Caregiving

Over 1.5 million Virginians currently serve as family caregivers, experiencing emotional stress, fatigue and financial strain as a result of their role. The recent Caregivers’ Re-Treat held in Haymarket provided some with an opportunity to step back from their caregiving duties and take a little time for themselves.

Having trouble starting a tough conversation about caregiving with your loved one?

Caregivers in Virginia have an abundance of resources available through the Virginia Navigator (https://virginianavigator.org/) family of websites. That was the primary message of a webinar conducted recently featuring Cindy Markham, a community outreach specialist for the Navigator sites.

If anyone needs care more than anyone else at times, it is the full-time caregivers themselves, those who care for many, most or all of the needs of a loved one. With that goal in mind, and within National Family Caregivers Month, AARP gave Roanoke-area caregivers a break that featured activities, information and support. How about chocolate tasting, aromatherapy and massages for starters?

Family caregivers, volunteers working with older adults and professionals in aging services gathered Nov. 22 for the 39th annual Northern Virginia Dementia Care Consortium Caregiver’s Conference, an annual event to help them connect with each other, learn new ways to engage with people with dementia and be better prepared to provide care and support.

It’s a blessing to care for loved ones, but you also have to take care of yourself. That means financially, too.

In honor of National Family Caregivers Month in November, AARP Virginia is working to help nearly 1 million family caregivers in the state, who in 2021 provided $14.3 billion in unpaid care for loved ones. Go to events.aarp.org/VACare.

No matter where you are in the caregiver journey, these local agencies and organizations can help make the process easier

For more than a decade, AARP Virginia has joined the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke for the VMT’s annual “Grandparents Day” as a way to help connect older residents with their grandchildren.

“Multi-domain brain training,” said Dr. Ellen Clarke, “can provide hope,” not just for dementia patients but for all aging adults.