ATTENTION ALL CAREGIVERS!

I have a special treat for you today! Today I am going to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name is Mike Good and he is the mastermind behind the TOGETHER IN THIS website. If you are a caregiver to someone who has Alzheimer’s you should check out TOGETHER IN THIS!

Mike along with four Alzheimer’s Experts: Rachel Wonderlin, Susan Macaulay, Maryann Makekau, and Barbara Worthington will be sharing their knowledge with all of us on an upcoming webinar scheduled for WEDNESDAY NOV, 4TH! For the next several Wednesdays, I will be introducing you to all of them one by one!

 

Tell us about you…

I have a real passion for helping people with unique and changing needs such as families living with Alzheimer’s or other dementia. I don’t have a personal connection to Alzheimer’s, but I have many friends caring for someone. I also have several online friends diagnosed with the disease.

My path to helping others started in December of 2012, when I left my career to follow my ambition of creating a company to help older adults with technology. My 20 years in the high-tech industry (15 of which were in the defense industry) taught me a lot of skills that I wanted to utilize to make people’s lives easier.

For over a year, I spent practically every day attending events in my local community. This included classes, networking events, conferences, seminars, etc. in the both the health-care field and within the business startup community. During this time, I learned an enormous amount.

What really struck me was how much goes on in our communities by people who are fighting each day to make this a better world. When you go to a job every day, it’s easy to fail to notice this significant part of our society because you can’t see outside the four walls.

I realize now that this was having a significant inspirational impact on me.

What made you want to get involved with Alz/Caregiving?

During this explorative time in my life, I kept hearing about this disease called Alzheimer’s, and I kept meeting people who were being identified as caregivers for someone living with dementia. As I continued to listen to their stories, something was tugging at me. A colleague suggested that I turn my focus to memory impairment but I quickly dismissed his suggestion due to its complexity.

Then one day I was attending a conference with probably 100 other people, and the presenter asked the audience to raise their hands if they knew someone with Alzheimer’s. To my surprise, nearly half the room raised their hands (I did not). It was at that moment that every ounce of my focus turned to Alzheimer’s because I realized how many people truly needed help, and how could I turn my back on them?

From there, TogetherinThis.com was born with a mission to help families find tactical information and tools to make their situation easier.

Tell us about the webinar…

I’m super blessed to have relationships with several caregivers who are willing to share their experiences and strategies that helped them have a better caregiving experience. Like you, they’ve walked the walk, and have made their share of mistakes but each of them has persevered and overcome these obstacles.  

This will be my 12th online training workshop for 2015. While prior workshops had one presenter, this time I’ve got four of the top experts in dementia care lined up. The theme of this workshop is about using observation and communication to find the joy in caregiving. During this two-hour interactive event the presenters will share their personal tips and strategies, and will cover guidance important to having a positive caregiving experience.

Viewers won’t see boring charts on a screen. In fact, I do my best to avoid having a clinical monolog. My format is personable and encourages viewer participation by engaging with the presenters via a chat option.

What are the top 2 points that you want people to take away from this webinar?

There’s an enormous amount of value packed within this two-hour training, but one main takeaway I hope people get is if you continue to self-educate, accept the disease and stop fighting it, you can find joy, peace of mind, and have a more relaxed atmosphere. It’s not easy by any stretch but if caregivers start applying some of the strategies the presenters will share, it is possible.

Caregivers also have to be detectives in many ways, and learning how to listen is a vital aspect of understanding what the person living with dementia is feeling. Listening, as the viewers will learn, is done with more than just our ears.

Where are you heading next? Any plans for a follow-up?

I’m going to continue to listen to the caregivers and the individuals living with dementia to understand what they want and need. Then I’m going to continue to bring that to them in a format that is easy to use and understand.

My goal is to hold regular Power Training workshops that focus on different areas of need which will be presented by a wide-range of today’s top dementia-care experts.

I hope everyone enjoyed hearing more about Mike and the EMPOWERMENT POWER WORKSHOP! Register today and get the tips and tricks the experts use!

Remember to Appreciate the good, laugh at the crazy, and deal with the rest. I love you momma!