Virtual Dementia Tour coming to Muncie

There is an exciting educational opportunity in Muncie next month that I wanted to make you aware of.  Tammy Stanley from Lynd House in Muncie and Elasha Lennartz from Life Bridge Senior Behavioral Health Unit in Portland are teaming up to provide a Virtual Dementia Tour.  It will be held at the Lynd House, a Senior Living Community in Muncie.  The Tour will help educate the public on the physical and emotional challenges endured by those suffering from dementia.  I will be participating in the Tour.  For more information check out this ABC News report:      

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/virtual-dementia-tour-families-understanding-alzheimers-disease-11226182

Please call me at 765-717-2695 if you are interested in participating in this event. 

Adam

Caregiver Coalition

FYI Readers,

There is a Caregiver Coalition in Muncie that meets once a month at Morrison Woods Health Campus, 4100 N. Morrison Rd.  The purpose of the Caregiver Coalition is to raise awareness about caregiving issues in the community and develop systems of support to ensure caregivers are able to remain in the workplace while providing quality care to their loved ones.  I attended the January 18 meeting along with nine other people including Katy Lucas of The Woodlands.  The Co-Chair of the Coalition is Kathy Segrist.  The Coalition would like to have a local business leader co-chair with Kathy.  There are currently three committees that you may want participate in:

Caregiver Needs Identification- This committee will identify the needs of working caregivers, connect caregivers to community resources, and improve the collaboration and coordination of available services that help caregivers within the community. 

Community Awareness- This committee will develop advocates for caregivers within the general public, work with the medical community to reach caregivers, and work with the business community to illistrate the return on investment of caregiver support programs. 

Workplace Education- This committee will work with identified community partners to help caregivers understand the many aspects of their roles as caregivers, will identify best practices and methods for delivering caregiver education, and will coordinate workplace caregiver education and training on a wide variety of caregiving issues. 

This is a great opportunity to help an underserved population.  I encourage you to attend the meeting.  Your suggestions are welcomed.  The more input we can receive from local citizens the better we can serve caregivers in our community.  Here is a list of the upcoming Caregiver Coalition meetings:

Tuesday, February 15, 11:30am
Tuesday, March 15, 11:30am
Tuesday, April 19, 11:30am
Tuesday, May 17, 11:30am
Tuesday, June 21, 11:30am

Please join us for our next meeting; everyone is welcome to attend.  Feel free to bring your lunch; drinks will be provided.  Free on-site adult day care is available with advanced notice.  If services are needed so a caregiver can attend a meeting, contact McKensie Monroe at Morrison Woods Health Campus at 765-286-9066, by the Friday before each meeting. 

Thanks,

Adam  

Visit to LifeStream

Good morning readers,

I want to thank In-Home Care Manager Karla Helm and ADRC Director Jenny Hamilton of LifeStream for inviting Meridian Services Vice President of Clinical Services Brian Donley and myself to their Yorktown office.  Brian was given the opportunity to speak to the LifeStream staff members about dementia and Meridian Services' Gero-Psych unit.  Brian spoke to the Lifestream staff for about an hour.  The staff is very knowledgeable about dementia and mental health in general, which made for a quality question and answer session with Brian.  Brian wanted me to let you know that you can find a wealth of information on dementia and other medical concerns at http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/.  Brian and the rest of our staff would welcome the opportunity to visit your facility and provide you with information that effects the health and well-being of seniors.  Please feel free to give me a call at 765-717-2695 to discuss possible dates and times.

Please check out LifeStreams website at  http://www.lifestreaminc.org/.  They are a wonderful resource, providing community services, in-home services, outreach services, and more.   

Thanks,

Adam  

Free Legal Advice Monday, January 17th, 2011 at Muncie Mall

Meridian Services Case Manager Angie Smith let me know about this opportunity and I wanted to pass the information along to all of you.

Attorneys will be available to give free legal advice to members of the general public at the sixth annual “Talk to a Lawyer Today” event on Monday, Jan. 17^th.  There are no income requirements, and the event is for brief advice on civil matters.  Consultations will be limited to 15 minutes.

People interested in talking to a lawyer can do so between 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Muncie Mall.  There is also a state call in line, (800) 266-2581 and will be available 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The day coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Most courts are closed, and this gives attorneys an opportunity to give back to the community by providing legal assistance to the under-served.

Thanks Angie for the information.

2nd staff bio: Kevin Knott

Good morning readers and TGIF,

I humbly present to you the second installment in our Gero-Psych staff bio series.  Kevin did me a big favor by taking the time to do this.  Thanks Kevin!

Hello my name is Kevin Knott and I received my Bachelor Degree in 1985 from Campbellsville College and obtained the Master of Social Work Degree from Indiana University in 1988. I have practiced in mental health since 1988. Initially my experience was working in a rural setting in Indiana serving populations of all ages including children and adults. My first work setting afforded me the opportunity to begin working in close proximity to professionals of various backgrounds in mental health including nurses, behavioral clinicians and psychiatrists to mention a few and this continues today.  I have been employed with Meridian Services for about 16 years and initially worked in the New Castle office serving the chronically mentally ill population and many of these individuals have had a persistent mental illness for many years including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, or PTSD just to name a few. Staying with the same company I began to work again as an outpatient therapist, as early on in my career, seeing mostly adults and providing services to them on an outpatient basis. It was discovered that the Henry County office could benefit from  providing access services to individuals and families in which most of the  responsibilities  involved assessing emergency situations and evaluating individuals for  either outpatient follow services or consulting with a psychiatrist to help seek hospitalization for those in a crisis state. During this time I continued to provide services, as I now do, to the afterhours emergency team with Meridian Services completing consults for individuals in crisis at the office, county hospital or other local agency. I have had the opportunity to serve on the afterhours emergency team for about 13 years and continue to see this as an opportunity to provide services to our population. In 1998 I had the privilege to begin working with a geriatric psychiatrist at Meridian Services providing counseling and consultation to the geriatric population in the area including nursing homes and in our local office. This really began to appeal to me as I felt this was a valuable service to those in our community and then the opportunity to begin work at the Meridian Services Geriatric Psychiatry unit became available and I have been here for the last 3 years on a daily basis.

Work on the geriatric psychiatry unit has afforded me the opportunity to provide counseling services to a population that has given a lot to our society. The individuals in this age group have provided opportunities to those of us considered “baby boomers” which were never possible before. I do the work daily because I strongly believe in helping others, more particularly ,those in this geriatric age group who have given a lot to our society and have witnessed first hand such difficulties as a great depression or a world without the advanced medical care we presently have.. A kind word to a family member of a loved one who  has dementia, a thankful heart and listening ear to someone who has lost a spouse and experienced many life changes and a supportive stance towards those who have had to battle with a persistent mental illness their entire adult life is what the work is all about. I strongly also believe I have seen those who have walked through our doors receiving treatment and leaving being able to move forward with a better handle on the mental illness that has for some reason in parted upon their lives and to hold their heads up with a stronger sense of well-being and dignity.

I am involved in my own community including serving on a local school board and involved in my church. I enjoy reading American History, watching sporting events and spending time with my family.

As has been said before “Act as if what you do makes a difference, it does”.

Have a great weekend!

1st staff bio: Linda Geidel

Good morning readers,

Today I am pleased to provide you with the first of hopefully many staff bios.  Linda Geidel provides therapy to the patients of our Gero-Psych unit.  She is a compassionate social worker and valuable team member.  Linda was nice enough to answer my questions for this blog.  I am glad she did; I learned a lot about her.  She is one talented person!

I received an MA in Counseling Psych from BSU in 1999. Prior degrees in Music Performance from the Peabody Conservatory and an MA from the Juilliard School in New York. Before becoming a therapist, I worked for 20 yrs as a professional musician. In addition to performing with several orchestras, I served as Assistant Professor of Viola at BSU for 5 yrs. During that time, I experienced a personal tragedy and RELUCTANTLY sought counseling. Therapy was such a life saver that I became interested in the process and realized that therapy was actually quite similar to the “mentoring” part of university teaching. Since 1999, I have worked as an OP Therapist in a Christian Counseling Ctr  and co led the Growing Through Grief Workshop series at High Street Church. I then worked at the YOC for 5 yrs as a residential therapist for the “Severely emotionally Disturbed” adolescent girls cottage (What a Hoot !!). Following that , I did short stints at the Cambridge House and at a Children’s Home in Indy. When the Children’s home unexpectedly shut down, I was hired by Meridian to work as an FCS counselor in New Castle. After 5 yrs, I moved to OP therapist in Muncie and then 1 ½ yrs ago to inpt gero psych. Specialty areas include,   grief and loss, personality disorders, dissociative and conversion disorders, eating disorders, spiritually issues and  therapy with adolescent females. Have also taken post graduate courses on Depression, anxiety, Mood Disorders and Schizophrenic Disorders.

In reference to question 3   I probably most enjoy working with individuals and their families and never cease to be amazed by the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for change that we all possess. Geriatrics is particularly interesting because we work with folks that have weathered a sig amount of “life experiences” and are now transitioning into the final phase of life and are often struggling to “re identify” their purpose in life. I think that the “public” needs to be educated more about the factors which effect the geriatric population and the importance of ensuring that we (as a society) make it possible to maintain an adequate “quality of life” as we age.

Thank you very much Linda.  And thank you readers.  Have a great day!

Web site of interest

Good morning everyone,

I thought I would share the link to a web site that may be of interest to you.  It is http://www.elderguru.com/.  It has many articles on aging.  Dr. Yazgan recommended the site to me when I started working as the Community Liaison.  Enjoy the site and have a safe and happy week!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a prosperous New Year!  Thank you for your support of our Gero-Psychiatric Services at Meridian.  In the weeks to come I will feature staff bios and articles on subjects like dementia, depression, psychosis, grief and loss, and anxiety.  Stay tuned, the next entry will be on January 10, 2011.