Health Care For All
Our first class
From left, areCarol Hubbard, Holly Mackenzie, Lynn Brown, Ardis Terrazas (standing), Lynn Pace, co-trainer Dr. Anne Doucette and Carol Ann Pothier
We held our first Patient Pals and Family Friends training yesterday, a four-hour session that included a lunch of homemade soups and bread (I cooked most of Friday).
The training went well and we expect to tweak the curriculum with suggestions from this first class and hold another training, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 27.
You can sign up to volunteer for Patient Pals and Family Friends at lifeomike@gmail.com. The training is free.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a new peer support program for people newly diagnosed with chronic or serious illness or with a new disability and their caregivers.
Patient Pals are people who have experience with various illnesses and disabilities, who can help someone newly diagnosed or with a new disability work through the fear, frustration, confusion and grief often experienced in the first few months.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
People with new illness or disability fare better when they have a role model -- someone who can help them negotiate their new path in life.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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