Emma Case (00:00):
Welcome to Inside The Senior Alliance, a podcast exploring resources and issues in the field of aging. I’m Emma Case, Planning and Advocacy Manager at The Senior Alliance, the Area Agency on Aging, serving Western and Southern Wayne County. Joining me today is Amne Darwish Talab, Director of Social Services at ACCESS. Amne thank you for joining me today.
Amne Darwish Talab (00:18):
Thank you.
Emma Case (00:19):
Amne, can you start by talking about what ACCESS is and then tell our listeners about the EXHALE Caregiver Support Program?
Amne Darwish Talab (00:27):
So ACCESS is the largest Arab American Human Services Agency in the country. It was founded back in 1971 by a group of dedicated volunteers, and it was created mainly to assist the immigrant population adapt to life in the United States because of the many barriers that they were facing upon arriving here and mainly the biggest barrier was the language barrier. Today we have 530 employees and 10 locations in the Tri-County areas and provide over a million services annually through our 120 programs. We operate in a combined capacity of 24 languages, so anyone that comes to our agency will be served one way or the other. The services are provided through our various departments, ranging from social services, immigration, health and mental health, youth and education, senior services, caregiving services, and many, many more. In addition to the local programs, we have four national programs, which are the Center for Arab American Philanthropy, the first and only Arab American National Museum, the National Network of Arab American Communities, and the Center for Arab Narratives.
Amne Darwish Talab (01:41):
As for EXHALE, it is a deeply rooted culture role value to personally care for our elders. We rarely rely on nursing homes or outside help, but what we were seeing was that there were a lot of caregivers who were burned out and they were passing away before their loved ones because of the lack of help and enormous stress levels and stigma. So that was the main reason that we decided to apply for the Exhale Grant. We were also seeing some people who were struggling to get the available resources needed to assist them in their caregiving journey, and we felt that EXHALE Caregiving Support Program would meet the unique needs of the caregivers who support seniors age 60 and older in the Middle Eastern community and other diverse communities. We decided to partner with The Senior Alliance, who also provides exceptional care to seniors and caregivers. So we applied for the grant through the Southeast Community Foundation and Boston Foundation. We feel that EXHALE honors this tradition by empowering caregivers, you know, to continue providing care for their loved ones, but while also offering opportunities for respite and self-care to help them sustain their ability to care for others.
Emma Case (02:57):
What are the main components of the EXHALE Program and how do they fit together to support caregivers?
Amne Darwish Talab (03:03):
We have four things, four components of the program. The first one is bi-monthly meetings that we have. So these meetings are designed to, you know, foster connection and mutual support among the caregivers. The first meeting of the month is dedicated exclusively to the caregivers, featuring guest experts who present on topics of interest and relevance to the caregiving journey. So the caregivers let us know what it is they’re interested in, and through our 120 programs, we always find a specialist that can come and talk. And if we can’t find anyone within the agency, we have great partners such as The Senior Alliance and others that we can provide them with a speaker on whatever topic that they request. The second meeting invites the caregivers to bring their loved ones with them. This is to offer a shared experience that would strengthen their bond in a welcoming environment that is outside of the home.
Amne Darwish Talab (03:58):
So some of our caregivers are able to bring their loved ones, and some of them are not due to the situation that they’re in and they’re unable to walk, but some do bring their loved ones and others cannot. The second component is providing them with the caregiving resources and trainings that they may need. So, for example, some of our caregivers have loved ones that have Alzheimer’s and it’s new to them, so they don’t know how to communicate and deal with these loved ones. So we provide a training, a three session training on living with Alzheimer’s that we’ve done before and on also on other diseases, but this was the key one. We also provide them with resources for medical equipment. We also introduced the programs that we have here at ACCESS that are available to them if needed, to ease their caregiving. So if they need mental health, if they need health, if they need social services, there’s so many different programs that they were not aware of that they’re able to get services from.
Amne Darwish Talab (04:58):
The third component is that we are working with local universities to have either medical nursing or social work students volunteer hours to assist families with caregivers to provide the caregivers respite care. So these students are usually students that speak several languages and we make sure that the family interviews the student to make sure that they feel comfortable with them coming to assist them with their caregiving in case they need them, and they would be considered like volunteer hours for the students. We’re still working on that, but it’s getting there. And finally we provide an annual stipend and try to do a few outings to help break the routine. So we give them an annual stipend and some of the outings that we’ve done are to the Detroit Institute of Art. We also took them on a boat ride in Detroit, and a couple of weeks ago we took them to an art therapy session, and last Friday we had a fun fest for them, again in partnership with The Senior Alliance where we brought our senior group with our caregiving group and had a beautiful, fun fest. And that was a lot of fun. And I think this all fits together because by doing everything that I mentioned and the components that were stated allows the caregivers to provide better caregiving to their loved ones.
Emma Case (06:19):
What types of caregivers are eligible to participate in the EXHALE Program?
Amne Darwish Talab (06:23):
The sole requirement for participation was that the family member being cared for is 60 years of age or older and needs a caregiver. There are no other requirements based on the type of illness or their disability. While we welcome caregivers from across the Tri-County area, the majority of our participants reside in Wayne County. So we’re not restricted to Wayne County, but most of the clients are from Wayne County. If I get a request from let’s say McComb County and I have a number of caregivers there that are interested, I would be willing to do caregiving sessions there. But to date, we haven’t had anyone from any other county other than Wayne County, and it’s mainly Western Wayne County.
Emma Case (07:07):
How do you at ACCESS measure whether the program is helping caregivers and have you received any positive feedback?
Amne Darwish Talab (07:13):
The funders, Southeast Community Foundation and the Boston Foundation, they have a specific evaluation that they use through something called NYAM, which is The New York Academy of Medicine that they have to do with the caregivers, which includes a baseline, a three month and a six month evaluation to measure the impact of the program and how it’s working. From our end, from ACCESS’s end, we try to measure to what degree do these caregivers report feeling less isolated or more engaged in the social network of support? Are the caregivers in their loved ones experiencing the stronger bond and how are the program activities impacting? The other thing is how effective are the resources provided to the caregivers effective in helping them navigate support for their loved ones? How effective are the resources provided in keeping caregivers from experiencing burnout? How accessible is the program to the most vulnerable populations, specifically immigrant and refugee communities?
Amne Darwish Talab (08:12):
Do caregivers feel supported and feel like the program is a safe and non-judgmental place? And finally, has participation in the program improved the quality of life for caregivers and their loved ones? And the feedback that we’ve got from the caregivers is that they do feel better, they do feel more relaxed when they come. One of the caregivers says, the only meal I get to sit down through the whole day is when I come here because we order them. You know, we will order lunch or finger foods or some type of refreshments. They talk to each other and, you know, and give support to each other. So we have gotten positive feedback on all the components that we, you know, that we’ve been providing to them, and they seem to be happy with the program.
Emma Case (08:53):
You talked a little bit about the challenges that some of the caregivers face. Can you go into that more and how the program addresses these needs?
Amne Darwish Talab (09:01):
Okay. So some of the challenges that the caregivers are facing are, and were the language barriers. Also, you know, the cultural norms, because caregivers is expected by a private family member, it discourages them to seek help from the outside. So this is encouraging them to ask for help, that it’s okay that they bring a student you know, a student that speaks their language that’s from their same culture that can, you know, assist in the caregiving, navigating the complex systems. That’s another challenge of resources and services available to caregivers and their loved ones. Some of these caregivers do not know how to navigate these systems. They do not know where to go for certain things. Another challenge is the financial strain. You know, some of them have their own families that they’re raising maybe and taking care of and have had to stop working in order to be able to take care of their families and take care of their loved ones.
Amne Darwish Talab (09:55):
Another challenge is emotional and mental health challenges, isolation, stigma, burnout. So that’s the challenges that I see that the caregivers are having. One of the challenges that ACCESS is facing is recruiting more caregivers. There’s still somewhat of a stigma, and also some of the caregivers cannot leave their loved ones alone due to their physical or or mental status, and they have no one to stay with them. So we’re working on that and I feel that the EXHALE Program is addressing these challenges by bringing the caregivers together to share their experiences and share what they are doing. And the caregivers are feeling like we’re not the only ones that are going through these struggles. And by just bringing them together and having them break bread and eat together, they just feel less isolated and more like a family, which is beautiful, but we just need to get more caregivers and we’re, you know, we’re trying to expand our recruitment plan where we’re going, further out and taking different measures to try to get to people and talk to them into coming to the program.
Emma Case (11:03):
For someone who’s just started caring for a loved one and is feeling overwhelmed, what practical advice or first steps would you offer and what resources or habits help caregivers maintain their own well-being?
Amne Darwish Talab (11:15):
So the advice I would give is take care of yourself first, and don’t be embarrassed to ask for help because you will be burned out and you’re going to have to need help. So start from the beginning. When you are tired to ask for help, try to block off some me time. You know, even 15 minutes to a half an hour a day will help you if you take a walk. If you, you want to journal something, write things down or meditate, this will all help you reset. You need to eat well and hydrate and sleep. These basics are often the first to go when you’re a caregiver, but they are, you know, they are their foundation. They need to do them. You don’t want to feel guilty if you decide to rest because you can’t pour from an empty cup. Your body needs rest. If you’re not rested, you’re not going to be able to take care of your loved one.
Amne Darwish Talab (12:02):
So some of the resources or habits that help caregivers maintain their own wellbeing that we suggest here is to join the EXHALE Program and to have some mindfulness and meditation. Even like 10 minutes of deep breathing or guided meditation will reduce the stress and improve their focus. Sometimes people may want to pray regardless of what religion they are. Prayer may help. Even things like cooking or gardening or reading. That also offers a mental escape, and joy to caregivers. And the last thing I would say is for them to learn how to say no and delegate tasks when they are burned out and they can no longer do it.
Emma Case (12:39):
What are the future goals for the EXHALE Program?
Amne Darwish Talab (12:42):
So of course we want to continue to create a supportive community where caregivers can find relief, guidance, and encouragement to reduce the stigma and recruit more caregivers for the program. Another goal is to provide them with expert speakers on topics that they are requesting. So we bring them in on different diseases, we’ve done it on Alzheimer’s. We want to bring up Parkinson’s, kidney disease, whatever illnesses that their loved ones may have. Our goal is to make sure that we bring speakers external or internal to come and speak to them about it. And we also want to provide training on how to work with loved ones that have chronic diseases. Again, that’s part of the Speaker bureau that we want to continue to do. And we want them to engage with our senior congregate group that is also funded by The Senior Alliance. So what’s happening is we want to bring some of the caregivers that are caring for their parents are already over 60. So having them enrolled in our senior program also to come and share with other seniors that are caring for seniors. And of course to continue the funding. That’s a very important role of ours. We want to make sure that we sustain this program and continue to get additional funding for it.
Emma Case (13:53):
Lastly, where can our listeners find out more about the EXHALE Program?
Amne Darwish Talab (13:57):
So they can email me at atalab@accesscommunity.org and they may reach me by phone also on my direct line at (313) 231-7133. And my name is Amne Talab. I will be able to enroll them, bring the program to them and provide them with whatever that they need.
Emma Case (14:20):
Amne, thank you for joining me on this episode today.
Amne Darwish Talab (14:23):
Thank you so much.
Emma Case (14:24):
If you have any questions about services or programs The Senior Alliance offers, you can call us at (734) 722-2830 or email us at info@thesenioralliance.org. Information about our agency or the programs and services we offer can be found on our website at www.thesenioralliance.org. Finally, on Facebook, we can be located by searching for The Senior Alliance. I’m Emma Case. Thank you for listening to this episode of Inside The Senior Alliance.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Inside The Senior Alliance is a production of The Senior Alliance and Blazing Kiss Media.
