Caring for the Caregivers, an educational retreat for those caring for a family member, spouse or friend, will be offered by Enloe Medical Center Saturday, 9/12/09.

In this event, Jocelyn Beauregard, a medical social worker, will open the retreat, followed by five presentations from various professionals. These include:

“Keeping Up Physical & Mental Energy: Nutritional Tips,” led by Heather Matlock, Clinical Dietician
“Comfort Care: Gentle Touch & Massage for Yourself and Your Loved One,” by Russ Lemke, Certified Massage Therapist
“Energy Conservation: Work Simplification,” by Nancy Mayr, Manager, Rehabilitation Therapies
“Note To Self: How Writing Can Help,” by Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Area Author
“Relaxation: Enjoy an Enloe Mini Spa” by Gail Cunha, Nurse Manager

Tips and support on a variety of subjects will be addressed, including nutritional tips for physical and mental energy, gentle touch and massage, work simplification and how writing can help.

Patricia Wellingham-Jones will lead a 20-minute segment, repeated five times, called “Note to Self: How Writing Can Help.” It will include a brief talk on the value of journaling for health, an excerpt from her own journal in the last year of her husband’s life (when she was sole caregiver), a prompt for writing together, then reading what the group members wrote. This is designed to have the caregivers actually feel the healing benefits even a few minutes of self-expressive writing can bring.

* Photo Credits in this post go to Rebecca Senoglu