Transforming Loneliness into Connection [with guest Deb Skovron]

Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars

Loneliness and Isolation have been clinically proven to have hugely negative health outcomes. Just because there's a caregiver in the home or the person participates in a day services program doesn't mean that they aren't lonely and feeling isolated. I lost my Aunt Myrna a few years back and she had in home care for the last years of her life, but while they were there to provide for her needs they weren't having conversations with her. By contrast, my mom who is 86 and has Alzheimer's disease participates in a day program, but since she has poor hearing her engagement is low.
Today's guest Deb Skovron, created a program called Circle Talk (see CircleTalk.org) which is used in home care and various day programs including PACE programs. She has witnessed many instances where a weekly program that encourages people to form relationships has dramatically improved participants' quality of life.
I'd highly encourage you to learn more about Deb and the CircleTalk program itself, but we always make sure that when you listen to Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars, that you will come away from the episode with actions that you can put into place right away. We're going to share this podcast episode via an email suggesting 10 great conversation starters that your caregivers can use to drive meaningful connections with clients.
You can learn more about Deb and CircleTalk by visiting CircleTalk.org.
Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.