What Is a Caregiving Webinar?
A caregiving webinar uses computer technology to communicate information. By helping caregivers and aging adults understand “what is a caregiving webinar?“, Pamela fulfills her mission to help caregivers and aging adults transform caregiving situations. Caregivers move from worry to optimism and from feeling overwhelmed and out of control to confident and balanced by viewing Pamela’s caregiving webinars or participating in a caregiving webinar course.
Caregiving is a family matter. Positive results in caregiving depend on complex skills that caregivers believe they have but that not all possess. Pamela helps caregivers improve skills related to problem-solving, decision-making, growing caregiving skills, planning for care needs, and negotiating family and healthcare relationships that support better care.
Attending an Online Caregiving Webinar Is Easier Than You Think
If you have never attended an online course or online caregiving webinar the idea may be intimidating. Joining a live online caregiving webinar or watching a replay of a caregiving webinar is easier than you think. You can check out Pamela’s webinars on her YouTube page.
To watch a basic explanation of “what is a caregiving webinar”, click on the link below to watch the video. Pamela will take you through the process of signing up for and participating in her online caregiving webinars.
What is a Caregiving Webinar: Webinar Video One How to Sign Up For a Caregiving Webinar
What is a Caregiving Webinar: Webinar Video Two A Refresher and How to Use the Chat Feature to Chat With Pamela
This webinar video is a quick refresher of how to register to attend Pamela’s caregiving webinars. Also included is a screen share by Pamela of how the chat feature works. Caregivers in Pamela’s online webinars can chat with Pamela to have questions answered and to share information with other caregivers and aging adults who participate in the caregiving webinars and online caregiving courses.
If you are still curious to learn more about caregiver support, click to read: 10 Frequently Asked Questions About Caregiver Support.
What is a Caregiving Webinar: Webinar Video Three, How to Raise Your Hand to Speak With Pamela Live During a Caregiving Webinar
This caregiving webinar video provides a brief summary of What Is A Caregiving Webinar and then offers a demonstration of how to “raise a hand” to speak live with Pamela D. Wilson. Webinar participants will see how easy it is to attend and participate in a live webinar. Live caregiving webinars allow course participants to meet each other to share caregiving information.
The Risk of Seeking For Caregiving Answers Using Internet Search Engines
Anyone can pose a question on the Internet today through a variety of search engines and receive hundreds if not thousands of responses. The question to ask is – how reliable is the information when it applies to a specific caregiving situation that has a variety of concerns that are sequential in nature? Meaning if this — then that. And if that — then this?
The risk of searching for caregiving answers on the Internet is that answers may be faulty or misleading. For information to be useful, it must be evaluated as valid and useful.
Caregivers who are already stressed, experience additional frustration seeking answers, and receiving generic or non-specific replies. This lack of confidence — in receiving information that that caregiver may already know — leads to suspicion about the promise of solutions from expert sources.
Reliable and Trustworthy Caregiving Advice Is Hard to Find
When it comes to searching for reliable and trustworthy caregiving advice, generic and non-specific responses fail to be helpful. More frustration occurs for caregivers and aging adults who need but are unable to find real answers. A level of vulnerability exists in seeking help because of the stress, severity, or desperation of caregiving situations.
The Internet, when responding through a search engine and keywords, is more like the traditional book encyclopedias before the Internet exists that were great reference manuals. For caregivers, once information is located and identified, what then?
Broadcast-Quality Webinars for Employee Wellness Programs
Broadcast-quality webinars for employee wellness programs are available for corporations and businesses supporting caregivers. Increasing awareness of the roles and responsibilities of caregiving is the first step in helping caregivers understand the importance of planning for care for elderly parents and themselves. Broadcast-quality webinars are one component of creating corporate wellness programs for working caregivers.
Caregivers Sometimes Believe They Know Everything – And Come To Realize That Skill Gaps Exist
The issue lies more with the ability of caregivers to evaluate information and to know how to use it to benefit their care situation. Many caregivers believe that they know everything about how to care for loved ones.
Pamela thought the same when she was caring for her aging parents more than twenty years ago. That experience led to her path as a caregiving advocate because of all the errors and mistakes that were made.
This quote from a caregiver provides clarity to many caregiving situations:
” When it is happening you can’t see the forest for the trees. You just cope. Once it is over you see a million things you could have done better.”
Poor Health Literacy Skills Results in Potential Harm for Aging Loved Ones
Statistics about health literacy in the United States are concerning. According to the U.S. Department of Human Services (1):
Limited health literacy isn’t a disease that makes itself easily visible. In fact, you can’t tell by looking. Health literacy depends on context. Even people with strong literacy skills can face health literacy challenges, such as when:
- They are not familiar with medical terms or how their bodies work.
- They have to interpret numbers or risks to make a health care decision.
- They are diagnosed with a serious illness and are scared or confused.
- They have complex conditions that require complicated self-care.
Making good caregiving decisions depends on a good or better level of health literacy which is low in the United States. Stress resulting from the role of caregiver leads to memory concerns and poor decision-making.
Pamela helps caregivers and aging adults improve skills to evaluate information and to make better decisions for the care of loved ones. This area of trying to navigate the healthcare system can be frustrating and result in caregivers who want to give up instead of finding solutions that work.
Caregivers and Aging Adults Are Vulnerable to Misleading Information
Many of the larger sources of information on the Internet are referral and placement services that have a financial interest in obtaining the personal information of caregivers and aging adults. Email addresses and contact information is then sold to companies who are persistent in their contact to sell services. These sites may overpromise and under-deliver resulting in future mistrust.
Concerns from caregivers and aging adults are regularly expressed to Pamela about online courses. Pamela’s company is not an agency that sells the services of other businesses. She offers personal knowledge and expertise to help caregivers improve care situations and to avoid unexpected caregiving events that result in stress or harm based on more than 20 years of professional and personal caregiving experience.
Pamela’s Caregiving Webinars Transform Caregiving Situations
Caregivers need more than information. They need to know how to evaluate and use the information to their advantage. This is why learning “what is a caregiving webinar?” and participating in caregiving webinars and online courses take caregivers to the next level where information becomes transformational in nature.
Some caregivers and aging adults may feel uncomfortable seeking help through caregiving support groups and courses. There may be a hesitation to share information about situations. viewed as embarrassing to the family, that may be negatively judged by others. Pamela is strong in her belief that judgment has no place in caregiving.
The results of getting help make the difference between gaining confidence to make the right decisions or constant worry and stress about caregiving situations that continue to get worse. Caregivers wrongly believe that no help exists because finding the right person to help can feel like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Once disappointed it is difficult to trust again.
The Burdens of Caregiving and Loss of Control is Heavy for Caregivers
Caregivers express beautifully the concerns of their situations:
“Been with my 92 yr old mom for seven years. No family local. Scary sometimes and always trying to be patient and not feel overwhelmed. People call and say do you need me? I want to say HELLO. Do fish need water. When we love folk the burden of watching them in vulnerable situations over which we have no control is heavy.” K.L.
“It takes such a toll on you. It’s hard to explain without sounding complaining. Emotions are going all over the place.” L.F.
Because of the time pressures of caregiving and many caregivers continuing to work, time to seek caregiver support is extremely limited. Pamela’s mission is to reach as many caregivers and aging adults as possible to offer hope that solutions exist in an easy to access format.
Pamela’s Online Webinar Courses
By answering the question of “what is a caregiving webinar?”, Pamela communicates to caregivers that alternatives exist to attending in-person caregiver support groups and courses.
Pamela goes the extra step in online webinar courses to provide thorough explanations and relatable stories. An initial assessment of each caregiving situation and goals are identified in the online courses so that caregivers have less of a concern of “what will I learn that I already don’t know from the Internet?.”
The Internet is a great encyclopedia. It cannot replace direct consulting or the expertise that is only be gained through years of practical on the ground experience solving caregiving problems in a wide variety of situations.
Click HERE for more information about Pamela’s online courses.
Source:
- America’s Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information. https://health.gov/communication/literacy/issuebrief/
Pamela D. Wilson, MS, BS/BA, CG, CSA is a national caregiving expert, advocate, and speaker who solves caregiving problems. Since 1999, she has been a direct service provider as a court-appointed guardian, power of attorney, and care manager. In response to the need for accessible, accurate, reliable, and trustworthy information Pamela offers online caregiving support and programming to solve caregiving problems, advance healthcare literacy, and promote self-advocacy. She collaborates with professionals in the areas of estate planning, elder law, and probate, financial planning, and healthcare to raise awareness of and sensitivity to family caregiving and healthcare issues.
© 2019 Pamela D. Wilson, All Rights Reserved
