Finding a Support Group
Being a caregiver, whether you are a child, spouse, power of attorney, or friend can be stressful. Consider finding a support group to share your thoughts, concerns, ideas, tears, or triumphs. You will be amazed with how much you will gain.
Where do you find a support group?
I don’t know about you, but when you look up “support group” on the web, millions of sites come up. From there, you may add your city or town to the search, but it still does not narrow it down by much.
So, what do you do? Who has the time to go through all of the sites? Who can you trust?
Have no fear, I have narrowed it down for you!
Here are some leads:
- Reach out to your local church, synagogue, or any place of worship, and ask if they have any caregiver support groups
- Visit your local Alzheimer’s Association
- If you leave near a Jewish Community Center (JCC), inquire about support groups.
- Join a Facebook group- here is a great list from care.com
- Family Caregiver Alliance has an online support group
- The American Cancer Society has support groups and resources
- Caring for a Veteran, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has resources too.
For those that are not the group type, but just want to talk to someone who will understand and be of assistance and guidance, a therapist that specializes in older adults and caregivers is a good place to go. You can find therapists at the Center for Mental Health and Aging.
Support of any kind is healthy!
Please do not be ashamed to ask for help during any part of you caregiving journey. You are taking on a lot of responsibility, and we humans cannot do this alone.
Find the right group or therapist for you and share your thoughts, concerns, problems, questions, fears, stories, accomplishments, etc. It will do wonders for your mental health, stress level, and will ultimately impact the one you are caring for in a positive way.
