Thank you,

Family Caregiver Alliance

Introducing new classes and events for family caregivers, their care recipients and providers: 

CLASSES & EVENTS

• Let's Get Away, Together! — Every Tuesday through June 6. Join us in this popular virtual travel series as we explore Golden Gate Park, a Beatles encore, train travel, joyful moments, and monsters and legends from around the world! Full info and registration here.

• Sleep Hygiene — May 31. We will be discussing all aspects of sleep and offering tips for getting better quality (and hopefully, more hours of) zzz's. Full info and registration here.  

• Trust It or Trash It? Techniques for Evaluating News Stories — May 31. Learn DIY techniques that anyone can use to detect bias, spin and warning signs in health and medical news; you'll also learn to identify trustworthy go-to sources for quick and efficient searching. Full info and registration here.  

• Gen Silent Screening & Panel Discussion — June 7. This critically acclaimed documentary delves into the challenges and discrimination that LGBTQ seniors can face in navigating the health care system. Full info and registration here.  

• Family Caregiver Respite Retreat in Fremont, CA — June 9. This one-day respite retreat for family caregivers, hosted by FCA and the City of Fremont, offers a chance to connect, learn, and spend time with others who identify with and share your caregiver journey. Registration is required. Full info and registration here.  

• LGBTQ Dementia Care (For Providers!) — June 14, 11:30am - 1pm. A collaboration between Openhouse, the Alzheimer's Association and FCA, this 1.5 hour free training for health and social service providers explores the unique care needs and challenges of LGBTQ seniors living with dementia and their care partners, and provides recommendations and resources. Grab the flyer; see full info and registration here. Please note that this is Tier 1 training, provided in English; Tier 2 training date is TBA.

• NEW! LGBTQ Caregivers Support Group — 3rd Wednesday of every month. In partnership with Openhouse, FCA is launching a new monthly support group (via Zoom) for LGBTQ caregivers. For more information or to register, contact Adriana Sanchez.

All classes are free. Bookmark our calendar to stay up to date on upcoming classes, webinars and events.

FCA IN THE COMMUNITY

We'll be hosting a resource table at the below health and aging events in our local communities — where we'll have informational materials, small goodies/giveaways and answers to all your questions about family caregiving! Come out and say hi!

• June 12, 1pm - 6pm — Senior Coastsiders Wellness Fair , 925 Main St., Half Moon Bay. Full info and registration here.

• June 30, 9am - 2pm — United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County (USOAC) Convention, St. Columba Catholic Church, 6401 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. Full info here. 

For any questions about our community engagements, events or the in-services we offer to provider organizations, contact Julian Leus, our Community Engagement Specialist.

We've gathered some of our top resources for family caregivers struggling with mental health, the emotional aspects of caregiving or how to implement self-care.

• Taking Care of YOU: Self-Care for Family Caregivers — One of our most popular resources, this article provides a deep dive into self-care — what it is, why it's important, how to do it and how to make it a habit for life. Includes tons of tips, tools and expert advice.

• Depression and Caregiving — This in-depth article on this incredibly important topic covers symptoms, treatment, therapies and self-care strategies for depression — all with a special lens on the family caregiver's experience.

• The Emotional Side of Caregiving — In this must-read article, caregivers gain an awareness and understanding of a broad range of emotions they may experience during the caregiving journey — as well as coping strategies for all 19 emotions.

• Caring for You — This all-new resource guide provides family caregivers with ready-to-use resources, self-care tips, and information on where and how to get help.

• Grief and Loss — This article provides a comprehensive exploration of many aspects and kinds of grief and offers resources, tips and further reading.

Visit our library for more resources, including those in Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean. Also see Compassion Fatigue, Empathy, Burnout for Health Care Workers: Which is it?, a one-pager by Mental Health America that provides an overview of and resources for health care providers.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we're mixing up this recurring spotlight section to highlight national helplines and assistance centers for those in need of support.

• Friendship Line — A program of Institute on Aging’s Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief-Related Services, the Friendship Line is both a crisis intervention center and a “warm” line for routine, even daily, phone calls that provide emotional support and well-being check-ins. 

• LGBT National Help Center — Free and confidential support for the LGBTQIA+ community, provided through hotlines, online chat, email and more.

• NAMI Helpline — The NAMI HelpLine is a free, nationwide peer-support service providing information, resource referrals and support to people living with a mental health condition, their family members and caregivers, mental health providers and the public.

• National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for caregivers or family members, and best practices for professionals. Also supports Spanish speakers, Black youth and adults, the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with neurodivergence, Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and others.

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline — SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

• Trevor Project — Support and information for LGBT young people 24/7, all year round. Offers counselor support over phone, text or chat; resources and information; and connection with peer community.

• VA Caregiver Support Line — VA's National Caregiver Support Line is a toll-free number for caregivers, family members, friends, Veterans, and community partners to contact for information related to caregiving and available supports and services. 

Please also see additional national helplines gathered by the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Mental Health and HelpGuide.org.

We're excited to share that we've just launched a newly upgraded FCA CareNav™! CareNav, our free and easy-to-use online tool for family caregivers, now has an updated dashboard with a whole new look and feel, with more personalized tools and resources to help caregivers along their caregiving journey. Improved functionality means users can now:

• Access our full library of videos, fact sheets, infographics and more, anytime, anywhere
• Gather resources relevant to them and easily keep them organized
• Explore a range of caregiving topics like in-home care, finances, legal matters, self-care and more
• Learn about and sign up for caregiving events, classes and webinars hosted by FCA and other California Caregiver Resources Centers

Users in the San Francisco Bay Area can:

• Access their caregiver action plans 24/7
• Track service grant usage
• Download timesheets

FCA CareNav is free, secure and easy-to-use — learn more here!

We respect your inbox, so we send our Provider e-News Update out every 1-2 months. But between issues, we are still hosting and sharing plenty of activities, classes, webinars and new resources for caregivers.

Stay in the know by following us on any or all of our social media channels — and be sure to share them with others who can benefit!

... and while you're here — sign up for our Connections e-newsletter (designed for family and friend caregivers), ¿Que Pasa? boletin (our e-newsletter for Spanish-speaking caregivers), and our Caregiving Policy Digest newsletter (caregiving policy at the local, national and international levels).