- Okay, recently, Detroit PBS partnered with the St.

Patrick Senior Center in Detroit for a public event about the challenges and triumphs of caregiving.

It was titled "Caring for Caregivers: The Art of Aging Well."

A panel of local agency and nonprofit leaders discussed the needs of older adults and their caregivers.

Here is a portion of that conversation, which was moderated by "American Black Journal" contributor Trudy Gallant-Stokes.

- My mother had Alzheimer's for 10 years, and my brother who's in the audience and I were caregivers, and she used to say to me sometimes, "You're really good at this, you know, you should go into business."

I said, "No, mom, this is because I love you.

I enjoy doing this for you.

I don't know if I'd be able to do this as a job."

But it's very important to have.

And that's what you see in the audience here tonight.

People who raised their hands said they're caregivers because those are people that are in their lives and people that they love.

And so you step up, you do what you have to do.

So SaTrice, tell me a little bit more about St.

Patrick and some of the history.

It's a rich history here in the services today.

- Definitely, St.

Patrick Senior Center, we're over 50 years old.

It was started by Sister Mary Watson.

We have a variety of program.

We're one of the larger health and wellness centers with the support of Detroit Area Agency on Aging of course.

(audience applauding) They do a lot for us.

We wouldn't be who we are without them.

So we have a number of programs.

Our congregate meal program where we cook food from scratch, we have bunches of exercise, dance classes.

We even are teaching older adults digital literacy.

So I have digital navigators who are seniors trained, and we're teaching VR, we're doing AI, we're in the community.

We also have started with workforce development training because we know that many older adults are being forced to get back into the workforce for whether it's self-fulfillment or just needing that extra money, even if it's to pay for your healthcare.

So we are training older adults to be entrepreneurs and community health workers.

- Okay, so Ron, since you're right next to SaTrice, talk about the interaction and how you DAAA as they say, how you're able to help others in the community.

- Yeah, DAAA, it's easy to help a entity such as St.

Pat's because of the commitment and the heart and just the love in which SaTrice pours out in which you could tell carries down to the rest of her team and to the services in which they provide and how they connect to the community.

So it makes it very easy.

But at DAAA, we've been around for 45 years, and it's been our mission to try to do what we can to allow individuals to age in the community with age, I mean with grace and dignity.

And we've done that by creating a system as far as a network of partners that allow us to provide what I say is a continuum of care.

And that continuum of care essentially allows individuals to come to facilities like St.

Pat's in which you can do, I recall one of the first times I got to Detroit, I came here and tried to do line dancing.

And so that's part of what SaTrice has on me.

She shows that video every now and then when she comes with ask and so.

But, you know, you could come in and do line dancing, you could participate in the VR programs, you could participate and play some pool, get a haircut.

I mean, you could really do things as far as socialization.

But then the continuum of care that we provide goes all the way to if you're home bound, if you need assistance in the home, in which we could send someone into the home to allow you to avoid going into a nursing facility and to receive care there.

So what I would like to say is that what really has given us our North Star is the fact that we also created a report probably about 20 years ago or so, and that report was entitled "Dime Before Its Time."

And what it really reflected was in regards to the fact that we have individuals within our community that because of the lack of access to healthcare, and also because of lack of, I would say, or having an increased rate of chronic illnesses or morbidities, that they were actually passing away at a rate that was two and a half times moreso than their colleagues in the rest of the state of the Michigan.

And so what we recognized is that there has to be some things in which we can do.

So a part of it was for us to invest in evidence-based programs or community wellness centers like St.

Pat's.

But the other aspect of it, and that's a long story, but what I wanted to say is that we knew that caregivers were the backbone of that system, and that we needed to do more to support caregivers.

So that's DAAA's role in engagement in this process.

- Absolutely.

Sounds wonderful.

Kristie, I know that your organization is very collaborative and you bring in a number of different organizations.

So what resources, what things are available?

- So one thing that's unique about the Senior Regional Collaborative is that we are a network of organizations.

So we are not a direct service provider, but what we do is bring those direct services providers together, opportunities for them to collaborate on different levels, to convene among one another.

So those small organizations.

You get an opportunity to work with organizations like DAAA, both of them are both members of the SRC as well.

One of the unique things that we do as well is our Change in the Care Conversation Coalition.

So it's not a support group.

We give that to the direct service providers that do this every day, like DAAA and St.

Pat's.

But what our opportunity is to bring those organizations together and to bring caregivers, family caregivers together to really have conversations on different levels around how caregiving impacts them.

So really putting resources together, thinking about how it looks education-wise with workshops and other issues like that.

So for us, we're really that place where we can bring organizations and people together to really look at resources.

People contact us, we actually refer them out back to our member organizations.

And we are across a number of counties.

So we are Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St.

Clair.

So it's legal services, it's providers that do a number of different things in and throughout the community for older adults, persons with disabilities, and caregivers alike.

- I think a lot of caregivers feel invisible because they are so involved and so wrapped up in trying to take care of that loved one.

But what are some ways for organizations that can help them feel seen and feel supported?

Anybody can answer that.

- One of the things that we like to do is really talk around advocacy.

And we can use that word in a number of ways.

So we really encourage caregivers that come to us to be their own self-advocate.

And we really go through workshops, we partner with a number of organizations, but the other part of that is also being an advocate on various levels on the state level, on a political level, on a policy level.

So also giving those skills out to the community at large, really to have conversations, really to get out and to tell your story.

It is so important to tell your story as a caregiver because that's where change happens.

And so not to be afraid of telling that story, but just making sure when you get out there, tell your story, keep telling your story, say it over and over again, write it down, email it, do all those things because that's really what we really press for change to happen.

- Ron, do you have- - I would say that it's this multi pronged approach, and advocacy, it has to occur, because again, caregivers are the backbone of our healthcare system.

And the appropriate resources need to be directed to caregivers.

And I say it as far as whether it's with the employer, as far as EAP programs, or if it's with the ability to reimburse or to provide payments to caregivers if it's increasing the rate of payment to direct care workers.

And, you know, there's a number of policy considerations.

And the other one I would say is like a tax credit for caregivers.

And so there's a number of policy considerations that should be promoted and needs to be advocated for.

And the greatest voice is your voice.

And it's, you know, and you have to speak to your legislators and talk to those that can influence policy.

But I would also say to recognize the realities of what's occurring in the real world.

And what's happening is that we work with a number of partners, and we also have, one of our team members is here today as far as Crystal White, as far as providing caregiving services.

And those caregiver services are allowed to help educate and to train caregivers through programs such as Trualta.

And then it's also where we can do intensive assessments to help caregivers understand where they're at and what their needs may be.

And also we can help direct them and to connect them to their appropriate resources.

And then also we just try to provide support to support groups.

And so I would say that as a caregiver, that you really need to make certain that you take care of yourself and that you spend time for yourself.

And also one of the things I continue to hear is that you don't beat up on yourself or don't feel guilty about if there's a bad day or if there's a bad moment, because we all have those in life and we will experience them.

- SaTrice, if you could just wave a magic wand and change one thing about how we support caregivers, what would you do?

- I would say just trying to find ways to make it easier.

You know, here at St.

Pat's, we're really into technology, but also finding ways that you can use technology to simplify your life.

So ways to stay connected.

Maybe you can't get out, but you can get on Zoom and be in the support group or get in a class.

Maybe you having trouble trying to get your groceries and you don't have time to leave and you can't take groceries to your mother because you're still at work, but maybe we can use something like (indistinct) and have groceries delivered to make it easier.

So there's ways that we can do it, and the wave is coming.

- I think that's excellent.

Any personal or family stories that anyone on the panel has to share about caregiving experiences?

- I think each and every one of us in this room has a caregiving story.

And I do recall, I would say that from a personal perspective, my caregiving story is, I can tell several, but one is direct reflection that's related to my mom.

And some of these, I've shared this with others, but I recall as related to as a young, I'll say in my younger years, but you know, we're providing services or providing caregiving to my mom.

She had a stroke at the age of, I would say 58, 59, had been a single mom, and was just starting to realize her career and her dreams.

And as a part of that, she also ended up having cancer.

And so she was bedbound, and at that time, I was living in Georgia, and so I was coming back and forth on a regular basis, but, you know, just the family dynamics.

I had two siblings that were in Toledo, Ohio.

One sister gave up her home and moved in with my mother.

One sister was somewhat MIA, and so it created some tensions between the two sisters.

And I would have to come home and I would feel guilty because I was long distance.

And so being a long distance caregiver puts you in another pickle.

But I recall one weekend specifically, I came home with my mother, and for the longest period of time, she would not allow me to be around when she was being bathed or clothed or anything of that nature.

And it happened to be one particular point in time, there was no one around.

And she said, "Can you bathe me?"

That was the most humbling experience that I ever had and I really questioned how much did I love my mother.

And it was the most emotional experience that I had, but it made me realize how difficult and how personal and how emotional caregiving truly is.