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Helping Family and Loved Ones |
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 How
to find support groups
Ask around. Try your doctor, nurse, and social worker. Try hospitals
and nursing homes in the area. Call national organizations to ask
how to contact a local chapter. Check with your local Area Office
on Aging, which may have a list of a variety of help that is available
to the elderly; those services are often available to younger persons
also. Call your church or other religious institution. Call other
religious institutions that are geographically close even if they
are not associated with your religious tradition. A support group
at any church or synagogue is usually quite welcoming to persons of
all faiths. Then, try it out a few times. If you don't find it supportive,
move along and try something else. Some people are finding a great
deal of support by joining in chat rooms or listservs on the Internet.
If you do this, be careful: it is hard to know whether the information
being given is honest or accurate. |
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Adapted from The
Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness,
by Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, copyright by Joanne Lynn, used by
permission of Oxford University Press.
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