Morningside Ministries has a new outreach. It’s called Ask the Geriatrician, a way for caregivers to ask important questions of experts in senior health care.
There’s a true shortage of geriatricians. For example, in San Antonio, a community for more than a million people and a medical school, there are only about ten of these senior health experts.
That’s where a new program sponsored by mmlearn.org comes in. It’s a live webcast called Ask the Geriatrician. Caregivers watch it live and ask questions or dial it up later, a convenient way to address important concerns.
“If you’re a caregiver, often that caregiver is working fulltime,” said Nancy Thompson, Ph.D., executive director of mmlearn.org. “They’re also maybe taking care of their own children, and they’re also taking care of an aging parent.”
Caregivers from Leeza’s Place at the Bob Ross Senior Center are recipients of some of the specialized knowledge broadcast on the web. The first Ask the Geriatrician session topic was caregiver stress, a phenomenon that impacts all generations.
“Oh, let me tell you. It’s very stressful,” stated Marisa Chapa, a care advocate at Leeza’s Place. “I took care of my dad for 15 years. And it kind of breaks you emotionally, financially.”
Morningside Ministries will be using these webcasts to broadcast help on all kinds of geriatric topics, from dementia to substance abuse.
“So this is a great opportunity for someone to ask a question, get information from someone with highly specialized knowledge about older adults and their health,” Thompson explained.
The Ask the Geriatrician webcasts will take place every fourth Wednesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. from now on. You can watch it live or access it online.
