Central MN Caregiver Professionals Networking Collaboration 1

Purpose Provide professional who deliver services to caregivers the opportunity to:  Network with other professionals  Share best practices  Brainstorm for difficult situations  Relax with peers  Gain valuable education on services and information crucial to delivering high quality services 2

Collaboration Members Central MN Council on Aging provides space and notices of the collaboration opportunity. Any professional who provides service to caregivers in Central MN is welcome to attend. 3

History Through our work with Title III National Family Caregiver Support Program funding, the Central MN Council on Aging heard from providers that they needed to have access to each other on a regular basis. Began hosting group opportunity in June Current structure evolved from several meetings with on-going input of what the attendees wanted the meeting to be, not what CMCOA wanted to provide. 4

Process Caregiver Professionals Networking Meeting  When: Tuesdays 12:00-3:00 PM  On-going: fourth Tuesday of the months of January, April, July and October Typical Agenda: 12:00Bring a bag lunch if you’d like Networking of participants: Each participant bring a case to review and share with others over bring your own bag lunches 1:45 Educational Topic of interest 2:45 Wrap-up - Potential Future Topics for discussion/presentation 5

Educational Topic Examples  VA Health Care System: mental health/PTSD /recovery  State/Federal Legislative Updates  County Community Emergency Response Team – Disaster preparedness  Falls Prevention Program  Elder Law Attorney  Legal Issues for Seniors and their families  Elder Network program through Senior Helping Hands 6

Educational Topic Examples  Link to Life: services and products offered  Evidence Based caregiver programming  Professional Best Practices Sharing:  Handling difficult client who doesn’t allow help  Help adult kids in the sandwich generation  Talk to spouses who do too much and won’t accept help  Risk Management focus in working with caregivers  Implementing an Action Plan 7

Benefits  De-stress opportunities: someone understands  Receive education: better service provision  Collaborate on advocacy measures/activities  Gain insight on difficult scenarios 8

Contacts at CMCOA  Amanda Schindele Phone:  Kathleen Gilbride Phone: