Seniors For Living

It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, we were in the thick of the hectic holiday season, bombarded with ads from retailers and the stress of longer ‘to do’ lists weighing us down. Now, with the new year upon us and the season’s excesses behind (except, of course, until we get that first credit card bill), it’s an ideal time to slow down, take stock, and reflect about the year to come.

We did just that during the first #ElderCareChat session of the new year (and as a note, in 2012, we will be returning to a 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday schedule for meetings), asking attendees to talk about resolutions, goal-setting, and action plans for “being the change we want to see” in our family caregiving roles and as advocates for compassionate and competent elder care in our professional positions.

Participants got personal, talking about difficult senior care transitions they will be facing in 2012 and ways to make it the best caregiving year yet, based on the questions listed below:

1. Did you make any general resolutions or goals for 2012? Please share.
2. What goals/resolutions have you made as a caregiver or senior care professional?
3. What changes do you foresee in the senior care industry/in a family caregiving situation in 2012?
4. What changes would you like to see?
5. How can you help achieve these positive changes/be an advocate for better care at home or in the workplace?
6. What topics would you like to discuss in our chats this coming year? What are family/professional caregivers wrestling with?

Here are a few highlights:

To dig deeper on goals shared and future topic suggestions, check out the full transcript. We are ever grateful to Craig Fukushima, aka @ctffox, with The Fox Group, for providing this excellent resource and record of our conversation. Click here to review it, and be sure to share it with others who could use some inspiration in dealing with the stress of the season.

See who was there and get the average number of tweets per participant with these #ElderCareChat analytics.

Don’t miss our next chat: Wednesday, January 18^th at 1pm ET. We welcome elder care professionals, long-distance caregivers, former caregivers, advocates – essentially, anyone who is interested in eldercare issues.

If the time frame doesn’t sync with your schedule, start a discussion thread on our LinkedIn page, or use the #eldercarechat hashtag to present a question or idea to the group. Encourage your colleagues, friends, or family members to join our bi-weekly discussions or group anytime.