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Elder Ministry
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Serving our elders Susan Davidson For the past 20 years geriatric patients have been the focus of
my nursing practice. However, I am not sure who has benefited the
most - my patients or me. For example, at a local nursing home where I have taught
undergraduate nursing students for the past eight years, one of the
patients always greets me with a "How have you been?" She
wants to hear about my job, my challenges in raising a teenage
daughter, and any bit of information that is important to me. We
have found that we both love cats and Nelson Eddy/Jeanette
MacDonald musicals. A picture of my cat sits on her dresser and as
she has become more cognitively impaired over the years, the
ownership of that cat has merged and she often tells me stories of
what the cat has done during the past week as we both gaze at the
picture. We both feel good after our
interactions. She is progressively declining physically and mentally and is
now racked by painful osteoporosis and small bone fractures as her
body sinks into an S curvature. Due to her permanently contracted
neck angle, I need to kneel down beside her wheel chair to make eye
contact. It is a challenge to get her to tell me about her pain
control, side effects from medications, appetite, skin condition,
respiratory status, and other physiologic symptoms that I usually
check out with each visit. What she wants from me is time,
attention, and human interaction. And, she is the ultimate
empathetic other. She is free with her useful down-to-earth advice
on child rearing, keeping hearth and home together, community
involvement, and a life well lived. I could repeat stories like this a hundred times. Each of the
elders that I have interacted with has shared a part of themselves
and their insightful perspectives about what is truly important.
They have left me with a sense that death holds no fear, just a new
beginning. A few minutes of my time becomes a valuable gift. I am
lucky to have found a niche with this wonderful group of
people. The needs of the elders in our community and parish are expected
to increase as the demographics of our society shift. Some Quick
Facts About Aging in North Carolina from the UNC Institute on
Aging reveals the number of persons age 65 and older grew by 21.1%
in the decade between 1990 and 2000, and this older population is
projected to double from 2000 to 2030. Those 65 or older are
expected to comprise 18% of North Carolina's population by 2030
and NC is ranked 12th among states in the growth of the
65+ population. Elderly people tend to be more impacted by limited
finances - with minorities, women, and persons living alone
over-represented among those living in poverty. Health care is also
a major worry - not only in financing health care but getting to
medical visits and procuring needed food and
supplies. However, Alzheimer's disease is the major health epidemic
that I see looming in our future, with cases in NC projected to
increase by 64.2% from 2002 to 2020. Once diagnosed, the life span
of an individual with Alzheimer's or other dementia is a mean
of 10 years with many of these years requiring supervision,
physical assistance, and/or institutionalization. We have no truly
effective medicines for this horrible disease that takes the best
of a person, only behavioral and environmental support by a caring
person. Combine these trends with long-distance family support
systems, a rural state with marginal transportation, and an influx
of migrant populations and you see a system unprepared to meet
current and future needs. In the spirit of "think globally, act locally," we at
the Chapel of the Cross are in a position to ask ourselves,
"What can I do?" to contribute not only to the solution
but to minimize the day-to-day struggles of an elderly individual.
In our community, the options for helping the elderly in our parish
are limitless: respite visits to provide a break from the stress
and fatigue for home caregivers; transportation to medical visits,
church, or other locations; legal help; tax help; bill-paying help;
shopping help. These are just the beginning of the list. Care team
adoption for hospice or elders suffering from illness and decline
can be beneficial to the team members as well as the person being
adopted. For a young family, intergenerational visits to a
home-bound elder are mutually rewarding. Don't have local
grandparents? - adopt a few sets. Teens - visit elders, make cards,
as a group adopt a nursing home where you can have fun helping with
activities such as bingo and reminiscence. The list is only limited
by your own creativity. I promise that you will come away with more
than you gave, a smile on your face, and a warm feeling in your
heart! The time is now to start looking at our parish elder needs,
developing plans and timelines for needs assessments, resource
allocation, training of parish members, awareness discussions,
program development, and action. Now is the time to join our
support, time, and hearts with Vicky Jamieson-Drake in developing a
living program for our elders at the Chapel of the Cross.
Look with mercy, O God our Father, on all whose increasing years
bring them weakness, distress, or isolation. Provide for them homes
of dignity and peace; give them understanding helpers, and the
willingness to accept help; and, as their strength diminishes,
increase their faith and their assurance of your love. This we ask
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Book of Common Prayer, p.
830 This prayer is used by the Parish Visitors to begin each of
their monthly meetings. Send
items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads." © 2006 The Chapel of the Cross |