LBDA - Seeking volunteers to help launch local support groups

[Guest guest]

Have you ever wished there was a support group for LBD caregivers in

your area? If you are an experienced LBD caregiver or a healthcare

professional and would like to help LBD caregivers in your community

come together for support and education, consider becoming an LBD

Support Group Facilitator!

The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) is looking for individuals

who would like to help launch a local LBD caregiver support group.

This role is perfect for retirees, and part-time or former LBD

caregivers. (For full-time caregivers who also wish to volunteer,

we recommend co-facilitating or participating on a support group

steering committee.)

The requirements for this volunteer position are:

• LBD caregiver experience or related professional experience

like social work, counseling, nursing, etc.

• A friendly personality

• Good organizational skills

• Telephone access, Internet access highly recommended

The position requires a commitment of about 5 hours a month for one

year.

We will provide you with a LBDA volunteer orientation guide, a

Support Group Facilitator manual, and a current LBDA Support Group

Facilitator who will serve as a mentor to help get you started.

If you would like to learn more about this volunteer opportunity, we

invite you to join representatives of the LBDA for a teleconference

call on Thursday, January 4, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard

Time. Please contact Ronnelle (Ronnie) Genser at

genser@... to register for more information and for

instructions to participate in this call.

In hope,

President

[Guest guest]

Hi June,

The reason for the teleconference on January 4th at 7 pm ET is to do

exactly what you are asking – to explain the role of a Support Group

Facilitator and what is involved. If you would like more information

before the teleconference, call (not e-mail) me after 6 pm ET evenings

or anytime on weekends at and I’ll be happy to speak with

you. Otherwise, I will put you on the e-mail list to notify you of the

telephone number to call for the teleconference. You sound like you

would be a great support group facilitator.

Thanks so much for your interest. I hope others will come forward and

offer to be support group facilitators in their areas.

P.S. I have facilitated a support group for ‘Adult Children of People

Who Have Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias’ as a volunteer for

the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association for almost 4 years.

My Mother is now in the end stage of LBD. I probably average 2.5 – 3.0

hours a month related to facilitating my group - 2 hours for the actual

group meeting; maybe ½ hour/month or less taking calls of people who

wish to join the group, a few minutes after the meeting faxing a sign-in

sheet to the Alzheimer’s Association, and about 5 minutes once a month

sending a reminder e-mail 10 days before the meeting to everyone in the

group. This is really not a large time commitment, but is a wonderful

opportunity to provide and get support. Some people may put in more time

as a support group facilitator; that is up to each person. I’ll explain

more details about the entire process in the teleconference.

Regards,

Ronnie Genser, LBDA Board Member and LBDA Support Group Coordinator

[Guest guest]

PS -- FYI I just signed up to be a LBDA volunteer. I'm going to start

small by volunteering as a Community Awareness volunteer. And should

that work out and I can handle a bit more, then I'll volunteer to be a

local support group facilitator (Massachusetts.) But need to know if I

can handle the smaller role first. If there are other MA individuals

out there too who would like to volunteer with me we can get a local

group together...