September 12, 2016
‘Family Dynamics in Caregiving’ set for Sept. 22
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- As the population ages, more people are becoming caregivers for family members who have various forms of dementia and other chronic diseases such as cancer. Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Department of Kinesiology is hosting a presentation offering helpful family caregiving information.
“Tag You’re It: Family Dynamics in Caregiving” is set for 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 22 in Wham Building, Room 219, on the SIU campus. The session is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is necessary.
Those attending will learn to minimize stress caused by family conflict, organize and strengthen the existing caregiving team, and identify and change behavior patterns that often occur in family caregiving situations that prevent people from adjusting well to situations. The guest presenter is Elaine M. Eshbaugh, associate professor of gerontology and family studies and coordinator for the gerontology program at the University of Northern Iowa.
Eshbaugh chairs the Division of Family Services and Gerontology. She earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University along with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Northern Iowa. She is on the executive board of the Northeast Iowa Agency on Aging and coordinates her university’s “Memory Trunk” program, which advocates a special approach to interacting with people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
She has extensive experience collaborating with agencies, organizations and services that provide care to the aging population and those with dementia and her research work in those areas is widely published. The author of the blog “Welcome to Dementialand,” Eshbaugh is an active public speaker and community educator.