Understanding Savvy Caregiver

Are you caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or other form of progressive dementia? Do you wish the job were easier? More satisfying? Would you like to increase your confidence, better understand the disease process and learn strategies for addressing the many situations that arise? We can help!

The Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource Center is now offering the Savvy Caregiver Program. Savvy Caregiver is a 6 consecutive week series of 2 hour sessions that will provide the caregiver with skills, knowledge and techniques needed to provide care to a person (most often a friend, or family member) who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (or any progressive dementia).

Savvy Caregiver is an evidenced based curriculum developed by Dr. Kenneth Hepburn and colleagues at the University of Minnesota.  Grounded in research this educational series teaches strategies, practical real-world skills, and helps to reduce stress, both in the caregiver and the person for whom care is being provided. Savvy Caregiver increases the caregiver’s sense of competence, and well-being even though there may be little experience.

The course will cover such topics as understanding the career of caregiving, different types of dementia, how the decline in cognition effects behavior, dealing with the feelings that arise while caregiving, fitting tasks and activities to the person’s abilities, and decision making skills to name but a few. The course will be presented through lecture, short video, and printed materials.

Anyone who is providing care, or will be providing care to someone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another progressive dementia will find this course not only useful, but a means to obtaining the skills needed to provide excellent care.  Love brings most of us to the caregiving role, however it does not provide us with the knowledge, skills, strategies or techniques that are necessary to deliver high quality care and lessen the caregiver’s stress. Savvy Caregiver provides the means to learn those skills, practice them in a controlled environment, and learn from one another’s experiences.

While not a support group, the participants will share their own real world experiences which will provide examples for the training lessons.

Join us to increase your confidence and reduce your stress. Become a Savvy Caregiver today!