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Lectures
and Seminars
Carol Abaya Associates has developed unique
audience interactive programs that provide an unusual
perspective of the emotions involved in aging, elder/parent
care, and role reversal and that help develop
techniques and build skills to achieve positive caregiving
objectives.
According
to a Chinese philosopher, knowledge is the key to
a better life.
Certainly, knowledge and understanding of the aging process, what the
elder is experiencing and feeling, and the roller coaster emotions of
role reversal help sandwich generationers meet new life challenges.
The key objective of The Sandwich Generation® is to help
family and professional geriatric caregivers increase their understanding
of elder issues, better handle often emotional elder care responsibilities
and reduce the stress of caregiving.
Baby Boomers,
the country's largest population segment, are the heart of the sandwich
generation. They are dealing with the fastest-growing population segment,
those 85+.

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Becoming
a parent to a parent is what we call a new role on the stage of
life for which no one can ever rehearse.
We
have developed unique programs because 25% of American families
are currently dealing with elder/parent care issues. This percentage
is expected to increase to as much as 60% in the next decade or
so.
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They
are designed to: |
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increase
the understanding of the aging process and dynamics and
the emotions of both elders and caregivers. |
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strengthen
caregving skills and develop
new ones for all caregivers, both family and professionals. |
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provide
TIPS for making caregiving
more effective and less stressful. |
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enable
caregivers to more sensitively help elders maintain independence
and a higher quality of life. |
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help
reduce employee turnover,
and the inherent high costs involved, in corporations and health
care facilities. |
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Family
Caregivers:
Family
members make up the vast majority of elder caregivers. They are the unpaid
heroes of the 21st century. Today there are as many male caregivers
as female. 70% of women work full-time outside the home. Almost
20% of working women have either reduced the number of hours they work,
taken advantage of flex-time, or quit working to stay home and care for
an elder.
Caregivers
are struggling to balance all their multi-generational responsibilities
and still maintain, what Carol calls, their "I Self."
Consequently,
any informational help given to individual caregivers snowballs positively
to the overall society.
Reaching
this audience, as well as the seniors themselves, provides tremendous
community outreach and marketing opportunities for any organization involved
with elder care and/or family issues.
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The
Professional Health Care Arena:
According to Provider magazine, the average annual turnover
rate for certified health aides (the mainstay of nursing homes) is 71%
and for RNs 50%.
Staff
retention is the key to consistent quality care, customer satisfaction,
and a positive bottom line. It is also critical given today's state
and federal regulations for licensing and accreditation.
Interactive
programs: |
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provide
a new perspective on the emotional issues of aging and
caregivers and elders' psyche. |
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strengthen
staff caregiving skills
and develop new ones. |
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focus
on developing techniques to enhance resident/family--staff
relations. |
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enable
staff to more sensitively meet customer (both resident
and family) needs. |
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The
Corporate Arena:
As more Americans live well into their 80s and 90s, elder care
will affect most employees at some point in their work careers.
Employers
simply cannot afford to lose the irreplaceable expertise and knowledge
of many of their most experienced and dedicated employees -- particularly
when the labor force is expanding more slowly than in previous years.
(Elder Care and the Work Force by Andrew E. Scharlach, Ph.D.)
The
statistics tell the story: |
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In
reality, more productivity is lost from employees having to fulfill
elder/parent care responsibilities than for child care ones. |
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More
than $34 billion a year is lost in productivity. |
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Some
studies indicate lost productivity and additional health costs amount
to $25,000 per caregiver employee. |
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An
Abaya extrapolation indicates a more costly formula -- for every
34 employees a company has, it loses the equivalent of one full
year's worth of productivity. |
Divide
the number of employees by 34, and multiply that number by
the average salary and benefits package cost. You then get
bottom line dollar loss impact. |
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Efficient
productivity of prime employees and retention of knowledgeable and
experienced staff are critical to maintaining a competitive edge
and positive bottom line. |
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Program
Specifics:
Program
#1: The Emotions of Aging -- THE Most Critical Element
Emotions, because they can't be 'seen' or 'felt' by anyone else
are the most difficult element in elder care scenarios. Participants
will actually experience what the elder is experiencing in this
unique skill building session.
Program
#2: Alzheimer's & Dementia - How to Deal With Unreality
With millions of older Americans experiencing Alzheimer's or some
other dementia, learning how to cope with the progress of such illnesses
and the stresses involved is critical. Participants learn techniques
to help elders retain their own dignity and to reduce caregiver
stress.
Program
#3: Corporate Specials
Corporate
programs combine Program #1 or #2 with the development of a better
understanding of what elder care responsibilities means to productivity
loss and corporate bottom line. Also, TIPS on how to more effectively
deal with caregiving employees.
Program
#4: Protecting Assets: What NOT to Do
This
is a one-of-a-kind program geared to both seniors and sandwich generationers
involved with the finances of their aging parents. All too
often families unwittingly put seniors assets/money at risk.
Avoiding risks is critical. Information provided here is not
available anywhere else.
Program
#5: Conference Specials
Programs
are specifically developed and tailored to meet conference (organization)
objectives and audience.
Program
Length: The length of a program depends on the audience
and sponsor objectives and ranges from 1 1/2 hours to all day. The
basic family caregiver program is 1 1/2 hours. Professional geriatric
and corporate programs are a minimum of two hours.
Program
Costs: Our fee depends on the audience and length of
the program. Out-of-pocket and travel expenses are billed separately
at cost.
Geographic
Coverage: There are no restrictions as to the location
of a program. We are located in New Jersey, USA. National and international
presentations are welcomed.
For
More Information or to Schedule a Program
Call Me (Carol
Abaya) Personally
At 732-536-6215
or
send Email to: SandwchGen@aol.com
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This
material is copyrighted by Carol Abaya Associates and cannot be
reproduced in any manner, print or electronically. |
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