25 Apr Memory Bridge to Lead Hospice Training in Florida’s Treasure Coast

Participants in this three-day, guided journey in connecting with those with dementia will explore what it means, and does not mean, for a person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and not merely from the outside-in, the bio-medical perspective, but from the inside-out, from within the lifeworld of a person living with dementia.  Developed by the Memory Bridge Foundation, this experience-based, empathy-centered workshop pairs each participant with a person in hospice diagnosed with irreversible dementia–a Buddy.  Volunteers and Buddies will meet two times in person over the three days of training. Combined with the supported companionship with hospice clients will be a variety of other learning experiences–presentation-based, creative, reflective, peer-to-peer dialogue, case study, and sharing circles.

The training is designed for hospice volunteers and covers many crucial areas of care of the cognitively disoriented, including:

*Emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of end-of-life communication with the disoriented dying;
*Exploration of the neuroscientific substrate of empathy;
*The social construction and deconstruction of identity;
*Identity challenges in Erickson’s 9th, and final, life stage;
*A phenomenological approach to the dis-ease of Alzheimer’s;
*Community-building around caring with persons with dementia;

For more information about participating, contact Eileen Emery at EEmery@tchospice.org.