Be The Evidence Project to Host Family Caregiving Summit

In the United States, more than 65 million people are family caregivers, performing medical and nursing duties for their loved ones, often without any formal training. Such responsibility can have an impact on caregivers’ physical, mental, and financial wellbeing, and leave them feeling alone in their caregiving duties.

Next week, Fordham will host a family caregiving summit to provide support and resources to those who are tasked with providing special care for their loved ones.

Family Caregiving Summit: “Name It and Know Its Many Faces”
Monday, June 10
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
12th Floor Lounge | Lowenstein Center
113 W. 60th Street | New York, NY | 10023

Sponsored by EmblemHealth, Inc., New York City Partnership for Family Caregiving Corps, and Fordham’s Be the Evidence Project (BTEP), the summit will serve as a day of “mind, body, and spirit enrichment” for all those involved with family caregiving, including caregivers, care recipients, members of organizations that support caregiving, and anyone interested in family caregiving issues.

“The summit is organized around [EmblemHealth’s Director of Community Outreach] Rev. Greg Johnson's vision of the ‘many faces of caregiving,’ which includes traditional as well as alternative families,” said Tina Maschi, Ph.D., associate professor at the Graduate School of Social Service and executive director of BTEP. “The summit is an offering to family caregivers to learn more about taking care of themselves in the context of caregiving for others.”

The summit, which is open to the public, will include presentations on maintaining bodily and spiritual health, LGBT family caregiving, and legal and financial issues. The day will close with a question and answer session with representatives from organizations serving family caregivers.

In addition, Maschi will discuss an unconventional side of family caregiving—how incarcerated men and women care for the elderly and dying in prison.

“There are families and peer support in prison settings, in which incarcerated individuals take care of the older and seriously or terminally ill people in prison,” Maschi said. “There has been a lot of information in the popular press and on YouTube that shows incarcerated people, including those serving sentences for murder, showing compassion and mercy for the sick and dying by providing hospice care. This is particularly moving when many communities and community agencies have turned a blind eye to the sick and dying in prison based on the nature of an offense that may have occurred over 20 or 30 years ago.”

To reserve a spot at the summit, contact Cathy Marcantonio by phone at (646) 447-6285 or by email. Breakfast, lunch, and coffee are included.

The summit will be taped and posted on various Facebook pages and websites.

Below are videos on caregiving in prison settings.

— Joanna Klimaski