Support groups help residents

• By Delania Trigg
  September 20, 2016

Stanford House has added some support groups to help residents during tough times.

Executive Director Kathi Kirby said the groups meet on Wednesdays at the senior center at 401 W. Garnett Street in Gainesville. They include help for chronic illnesses and bereavement.

Support groups are a safe place for patients and their loved ones to discuss their experiences and help one another, said Allison Deshotels, admissions coordinator at Gainesville Health and Rehabilitation Center.

Cancer support group

Deshotels is helping establish a cancer support group which meets from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the second Wednesday of each month.

“It helps to know that you’re not alone and that there are people who can provide support and maybe some alternative resources,” Deshotels said. “Support groups are also a place where people can come to take a breather, to know they are loved and that they don’t have to do it on their own.”

Grief support

A grief support group meets from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month.

The group is for individuals dealing with any loss. Most participants are grieving the death of a loved one, but Cherrie Fry, a board certified clinical chaplain with Heart to Heart Hospice, said the meetings are open to anyone coping with any type of loss.

“Anyone who is experiencing grief is welcome,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be the death of a loved one. It could be the loss of a job, a divorce, the loss of one’s health. A support group is a good place for them to come and get the help they need as they grieve.”

The group began meeting in August.

“It’s an ongoing group as long as we are needed,” Fry said.

Fry — who works with hospice patients and their families — said she felt a calling to help the dying and their families.

She and her co-workers often become emotionally attached to the people they serve and frequently experience the pain of loss, she said.

“We speak to others to help us deal with it,” she said. 

Fry said she also tries a more lighthearted approach to countering grief.

“I have a lot of humor in my life,” she said. “I also don’t watch the news very often because all that does is compound [grief.]”

Other ways to process and heal from grief include eating nutritious meals and getting exercise, she said.

“These things will help anyone cope with grieving,” she said.

Fry said talking about one’s loss is a part of healing.

“You learn to assimilate [the loss] into your story, your history, your life,” Fry said. “You find a way to make peace with it.”

Time Out

The Time Out program for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease/dementia meets from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the first Wednesday of the month at Stanford House.

Evelyn Yeatts is the group coordinator.

Time Out provides respite care, social interaction and recreational activities for dementia patients.

It also gives caregivers time to themselves to rest and regroup.

Parkinson’s disease group

A Parkinson’s disease support group meets from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the third Wednesday of the month.

The group is for Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers.

“Our goal is to bring information to the community about Parkinson’s disease,” said Jamie Wheson, a registered nurse and care component specialist with Angels Care Home Health.

The group helps patients and caregivers find out about new treatments and meet others who are navigating Parkinson’s disease.

“Many times people with Parkinson’s feel very alone and we’re trying to provide some sort of support for the patient and caregiver,” Wheson said.

Wheson said she became interested in helping Parkinson’s patients after the death of her grandfather.

“My grandfather passed away from complications of Parkinson’s,” she said. “He had a lot of good years before things got bad. After what my family went through, I just think there needs to be more support in the community.”

Kirby said she wants to make residents aware of all the Stanford support groups.

“These are people who know what it’s like to face a disease or bereavement,” Kirby said. “No one understands loss like someone who has experienced it for themselves.”

http://www.gainesvilleregister.com/community/support-groups-help-residents/article_a802cefa-7f42-11e6-8ae2-9f4a786efac6.html