The online\u00a0support groups for family caregivers of persons with dementia hosted by the Isa Psychological Services Center at the University of Guam will continue in\u00a0December, with two sessions featuring\u00a0Renee\u00a0L.G. Koffend, who holds a doctorate\u00a0in\u00a0audiology\u00a0and is a licensed and board-certified audiologist at Guam Hearing Doctors. She\u00a0will present on\u00a0hearing, hearing loss, and its impact on communication, memory, and balance in persons with dementia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sessions are free of charge to partners, family members, and other caregivers of persons with dementia throughout Micronesia. All support groups are client-centered and confidential.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This month\u2019s groups will be held at the following times:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
-Dec. 16, Wednesday, 6pm \u2013 8pm (featuring\u00a0Renee\u00a0Koffend, Au.D., CCC-A)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
-Dec. 19, Saturday, 10am \u2013 noon (featuring\u00a0Renee\u00a0Koffend, Au.D., CCC-A)<\/p>\n
Koffend\u00a0will be available after her presentations to answer questions from the group participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What to expect\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The support groups provide a safe place to share the stresses and challenges, successes and rewards of caring for a loved one with dementia with others who may be going through similar experiences. They also provide a forum for caregivers to participate in presentations led by health care professionals and other community members with expertise in caring for persons with dementia. \u00a0\u00a0 Sign up to participate\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The support groups launched in August in collaboration with the UOG School of Health\u2019s Guam\/Micronesia Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program. They will be held year-round on the first and third Wednesdays and Saturdays of each month at 6pm on Wednesdays and 10am on Saturdays. The support groups will be conducted remotely on Zoom during the pandemic. \u00a0 The online\u00a0support groups for family caregivers of persons with dementia hosted by the Isa Psychological…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":330352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe support groups are facilitated by Dr. Iain Twaddle, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, of Isa Psychological Services Center; Health Services of the Pacific social worker Rhoda Orallo, who holds a master\u2019s in social work; and Isa counselor Nikolas Gutierrez, who holds a\u00a0bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\nTo sign up for a family caregiver online support group, call or email Twaddle or\u00a0Gutierrez at (671) 735-2883 or\u00a0isa@triton.uog.edu\u00a0or Orallo (671) 735-3277 or\u00a0nfcspmgr@teleguam.net.\u00a0\u00a0(PR)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"