Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this November 29th, 2023.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here.
In part two today at 330, we're in a welcome and super-intended
of Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools, Craig Bourne,
also going to have our, uh, Nicky, the principal at Grant Elementary with Craig.
That's going to be a fun conversation.
Right now, one of our favorite people to talk to,
Casey Neymeth, did I get that?
You did. I did.
Casey Neymeth, BSWCSW, Caregiving Support Coordinator
with the Aging Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin.
Casey, good to see you.
Oh, thanks for having me. It's always great to be here.
I was appreciate the time and a big thank you to you and our friends over at the ADRC,
all the great stuff that you do in this community.
We greatly appreciate you, Casey.
I thought we could get into a couple of things with the ADRC if you don't mind.
And I'd like to start what the Aging Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin does
and who they serve.
Yeah, so the Aging and Disability Resource Center or the ADRC for shorts.
What we can do is help provide information and resources to individuals and their families.
We help promote choice and independence and we do that through our education, advocacy,
and access to services that can help you delay and lessen the impacts of aging and disabilities
in your life.
Casey, oftentimes you guys are the main people there for this age group,
especially when it comes to questions that you just don't know.
There's certain things that you do kind of get a handbook about,
you know, social security and that kind of thing.
But then there's other stuff where hey, you turn 65.
Good luck. There's no playbook for it, everything.
The ADRC is a vital playbook for many of our seniors.
Correct. Yeah, it's a great place to start, you know, whether you have a more complex question
or you have just a simple question that you can't seem, you know, to find the answer for.
You can come and ask any of the staff that we have.
We have specialized staff that specialize in each, you know, say, sorry.
Yeah, specialize in a lot of things.
It's all right, it's understandable.
So, yep, you can come in and we can help you get the answer that you're looking for.
Yeah, Casey, one thing that the ADRC actually helped me with,
and I am not of that age range yet, but one of the early conversations I had during
the day magazine with ADRC, and it came up about caregiving.
And the great work that you guys do for caregivers and helping caregivers.
And we were talking about how so many people don't even realize their caregivers.
And I got done with the interview and then later that night I'm
relistening to it, trying to get better and listen to my interviews and stuff.
Or I hate my voice like everybody, but you got to try to get better at this gig.
And I'm listening to it and I'm, it's dawning on me.
Wait a minute.
I'm a caregiver.
I take care of my mom and dad.
I never even thought about it as that one.
It's something that I think a lot and a lot of people out there in that situation
where they don't realize that they are a caregiver.
So, it's so important to have a group, an organization like the ADRC there,
to help with this topic.
What is a caregiver?
Maybe I think this is a good thing to get in time to get into this.
What is a caregiver and how can the ADRCW support them?
Yeah, I think you bring up a great point.
A lot of times people don't even realize that they are a caregiver.
They might be doing something that they think is, you know, an easy task for,
you know, maybe a neighbor, a friend, a loved one throughout the day.
But the impact that that has on that person can be huge.
And so, a caregiver is anyone that is able to provide any type of support for someone.
And that might be small, maybe raking leaves in the fall or shoveling snow in the winter.
That can be something as, you know, big as, you know,
hands-on care, maybe helping, you know, with that shower,
because you're not feeling safe.
So, you know, it can go to very different levels.
But just the work that that caregiver does is so important to that care recipient.
There's, I forget the percentage.
So, I'm not going to throw one number out there and get it wrong.
But there is an overwhelming amount of people that are in the caregiver industry as a job.
There are almost as many people who are caregivers who are doing this for loved ones.
And when it comes to that, especially in the Midwest here,
because we got a Midwest mentality.
We don't ask for help.
We just do things and we can handle everything on our own and all that.
Right.
Well, I'm not a caregiver.
I'm just helping my mom and dad.
I'm just helping take care of my mom and dad.
That's what you do.
You help family.
But it's important to understand the definition of this,
to understand that you are a caregiver in part because you,
you can't pour from an empty cup.
You can't take care of somebody else if your backyard isn't taking care of.
I bring this up all the time.
The example of an airplane.
You have to put your mask on first before you put it on your kid.
Every parental instinct tells you to put it on your kid first.
Right.
But you can't.
Otherwise, you're both going to pass out.
Right.
It's really important to understand that about caregiving.
Right.
Yes.
And, you know, I think you bring up a great point that,
you know, we do, we just want to help people.
We want to help family members.
We want to help neighbors.
And that is really wonderful.
And we recognize the work that the caregivers do.
But it's also really important to take care of yourself
if you are a caregiver because like you said,
if you can't take care of yourself first,
how are you going to be there to provide that support for a caregiver?
And that's where you can turn to looking at, you know,
maybe some hired help that can come into the home.
And things like that that can provide the break that you might need
to prolong that caregiving journey that you have with your care recipient.
And worthy noting that November is National Caregiver Month.
Right. So there's only obviously a few days left in November.
But it's really important to remember that it's
National Family Caregivers Month has been designated as the month of November
to just help celebrate the work that you do as a caregiver.
But most importantly to remember that it's so important
and great the work that you do all year long for your care recipient
and just making sure that you are taking time for yourself
and taking the time that you need to be able to provide that support
to your care recipient.
And if you are, say you're significant other as a caregiver
for family or something or you're kind of like on the outside looking
in a little bit of the caregiving situation that you're close to,
you can be supportive of those people too.
Your job is important as well being a support system for the caregiver
that goes a long way as well.
Right. Yeah, caregiving can be very stressful.
It can be very emotional.
It can be physically draining.
So, you know, if your loved one is being a caregiver
just being that soundboard, just being someone that they can talk to,
you know, maybe someone that they need to vent to.
Maybe it wasn't a great day or they felt that maybe they didn't do something
that was, you know, that they didn't want to do or have a tough conversation
that they didn't want to have.
If you can just be someone there that can be, you know,
someone to listen to to be able to talk through what just went on.
That is really important too.
Isn't an interesting casey that oftentimes the greatest thing we can do for somebody,
the greatest thing we can do for a loved one is just listen.
It's all we got to do.
We just got to open our ears.
That's it.
No heavy lifting, no figuring out some complex math problem.
We just got to listen.
Right. Yeah, I think that's such an easy concept,
but it's really, sometimes it's really hard to do.
And yeah, all you have to do is listen.
Sometimes you don't even have to open up your mouth.
Yes, yeah.
Where can I get more information on this subject if I'm out there listening
and I want to find out more?
Yeah, so the ADRC does have a website.
We are at www.adrc-cw.org.
And we just have a really great website that lays out information really nicely.
But you can also give us a call.
Our phone number is 1-888-486-9545.
And the staff that answers are able to help you get to the person
that you need to talk to or the information that you need.
So either those are great resources.
We do also have a monthly newsletter called Choices
that you might see out in the community.
We also have copies right at our office, our local offices.
And that just has a wealth of information and knowledge
that you can read monthly.
That has great articles in it.
Yeah, I encourage people to sign up for as many newsletters as you can.
There's always great information in those.
And the ADRC is a great one.
Is there another website we can send people to as well for like a 24-7 support or anything?
Sure.
So there's many different websites that you can turn to.
One that we find really helpful is the Alzheimer's Association,
which helps for people that are looking for specific information
on dementia so that you know is a huge thing
that continues to come into the elderly that we're seeing.
So just visiting that website at www.alz.org has great information specifically
for a Wisconsin chapter that they have.
That has support groups, local resources.
They also have a 24-7 support line.
So specifically if you are, you know,
have someone that you're carrying for that has a form of dementia,
that's a great website to check out.
Yeah, I know I've gone to it myself a number of times.
And it has a lot of great things on there.
And one of the great things is the support that they offer there.
And again, going back to the listening thing that they can do and such.
It's a great resource for you.
You can find out the information of any of those by reaching out to the ADRC.
They'll get you the websites or phone numbers.
Any kind of thing you might need there.
And you can also go to the ADRC to find out more about support groups.
We touch on this a couple of times, Casey.
This is one of the more vital things for not just caregivers,
but really most of the clientele of the ADRC,
having a support system, having a group of people letting,
sometimes just letting them know they're not alone,
that they're not in this by themselves.
It goes so far.
So many of our seniors out there don't have family in town
or don't have lost family or lost the significant other.
It's on us as the other generations to be there for them.
Correct.
Yeah, we have really great support groups.
The people that attend just are so thankful that they can talk to someone
that might be in similar situations.
You can toss ideas about that, hey, this worked well for me
or this didn't work well for me.
So support groups are huge, like you said, just having someone listen.
So the ADRC saw that need decided to start a support group
for caregivers that are caring for anyone.
And so that support group meets the fourth Monday of each month
from 1030 to noon.
So if that is something that you are interested in,
signing up for, you can contact our main number
or you can reach out to any of the staff
and they can get you some more information on that.
It's also on our website.
So you can check out a little bit more about when that is
and what that looks like as well.
These different support groups, there's other support groups
for other things as well out there.
And if it is something whether it's caregiving,
Alzheimer's, any of these subject matters,
reach out to the ADRC, find out if there is a support group.
If there is one, maybe it's a good chance to create one
for something that is a need that we just don't see.
It's something that the ADRC does so well
is listening to their community.
Listening to whether they're in WASR here in Rapids.
They really are listening.
You just gotta make sure that they hear you.
You just gotta tell them what's going on
and everything so they can do these kind of things.
It's important.
And when did you say that they meet again, Casey?
So this specific support group
that the ADRC started within the last year
that we've been running now meets the fourth Monday of each month.
And so that is from 10.30 AM to noon.
But James, like you said, there are many different
other support groups that are locally,
that are virtually over the computer now,
that's something that we are seeing a lot more of,
which is really convenient for caregivers
because sometimes you can't leave the house.
But you're still able to attend a support group.
So if you are looking for something more specific,
give us a call and we can let you know
if that specific support group is around
the more general support group as a caregiver
could be the one that we had just talked about
then the fourth Monday of each month.
We're speaking with Casey Neymeth,
caregiving support coordinator
with the Aging and Disability Resource Center
of Central Wisconsin.
And Casey, I wanna, I always like to spend some time
talking volunteering with you guys at the ADRC.
Before we get into that though, if you don't mind,
I'm curious when it comes to listening to the community
and trying to help and do whatever you can over there,
are you guys currently looking at different events
you can do or different types of support systems
or things that you can do to help out?
I don't need details maybe necessarily,
but definitely there are things in the works
or you're definitely looking at different stuff.
Yeah, we are always listening for,
you know, what is needed in the community?
Are our resources are only as great as the what is needed?
So if there is something that you need,
let us know when we can find you resources,
we can find you information,
we can start support groups,
we can do anything that can help our community
because that is what we're here for.
We're just here to make sure that you have the information
that you need to be successful as possible.
And I touched on this earlier, Casey,
and I say it a little tongue in cheek,
but there's some truth behind it.
We know our fellow Midwesterners.
We know how we can be.
I got this, I can handle it.
I don't need anybody's help.
And it's something that we admire in ourselves
and we appreciate in them and everything.
But we also understand that it takes a village,
that nobody gets through this life without a hand.
Everybody needs help from time to time.
And so to our seniors, to our people out there listening
that maybe in that situation, please do reach out.
Please do ask for a hand.
You've earned this.
Look at this no differently than social security.
You paid into that.
That's your money.
You don't have to feel guilty.
Nobody should feel guilty about collecting social security.
You paid for this your whole life,
your whole working career.
You should feel good about it.
It's the same thing with the services at the ADRC
or any other of these kind of things that are out there.
I don't even want to know, I can't even imagine,
I mean, the amount of people out there
that could use a hand with this or that particular thing.
And we just don't know because they're not reaching out.
You take that first step and the ADRC will meet you halfway.
That's all you got to do.
Just reach out a little bit and we'll meet you halfway
on this one.
Right.
We can be as involved or not as involved as you wish
and as you want.
But like you said, without making that initial first step
of reaching out, we can't help you at all
because you don't know that you need it.
So yeah, I mean, just even making a phone call
just to ask a few questions, that is a huge first step.
And don't let pride get in the way of these things.
And one of the strongest things you can do in life
is push through pride and just ask for a hand if you need it.
And you'll be, I think, very pleasantly surprised
not only at the assistance you might get,
but the independence you still have.
I think that part is key too,
because one thing that I learned through the ADRC
is the need of that.
That dignity, respect is so important.
I think we get that in life for ourselves.
I don't think we think about it often times with others.
And it's so important with this particular clientele
that we keep that intact.
Absolutely, yep, you said it great.
It's, we want to make sure that we are helping you
keep your independence and just give you the information
that you need to help you with the situation that you're in.
And like we said, you can be as involved or not
as involved as you want.
We are not pushy by any means.
We're just there to help.
Yeah, let's talk a little volunteering as we're wrapping up.
And every time you guys join us,
I'm going to hit on meals on wheels
and encourage people to do meals on wheels.
I love this program.
Let's explain to some of that out there.
The main, I know what meals of wheels is.
Yeah, so meals on wheels is a huge volunteer-based thing
that we have at the ADRC.
And what it is is a warm meal delivered
to a home-bound adult in our community
that are on different routes.
And so the volunteering would be delivery
and that hot meal to someone so they can have a nutritious meal.
And I know I have personally done this myself.
And it is one of the most rewarding things
that I think I've done.
You may be the only contact that that person has all day
and that brief interaction just really, really is huge for them.
And not to mention just the nutritious meal
that they're receiving because again,
that might be their only nutritious meal for the day
because they might not be able to prepare themselves anything.
So we really look volunteers are the heart of this.
And we just really look for volunteers even if you just want
to give it a try once a month or maybe if you're a little more ambitious
and you want to do it once a week, we're willing to take anything
that you're able to offer.
You know, it's not only the meal, but oftentimes maybe one
of the only real conversations these clients will get.
And that is really important, too.
And I would like to think that most of us
would want somebody to do that for us.
Paying it forward is kind of good karma
in one of those ways those things happen.
But I also, I don't get to touch on this nearly enough.
And especially when we're talking about volunteering.
This is fun.
This is a great feeling.
Casey's telling you, I've told you before in the past.
These are some conversations and some people
that you will go the rest of your life never forgetting.
Like there's so many stories and so many wonderful people out there
that you walk past almost every day or throughout your lives
and you never know any of the backstory of it.
And this is an opportunity to find out some of that.
And it's amazing history you hear.
It's amazing stories.
There are no boring people out there.
All of these individuals are interesting
and have something to share.
And they want to talk to you.
They, it's a fun, open conversation.
Yeah, you're getting them a meal.
Yeah, it's important to check in on them.
And that's another vital layer to this program.
But it's also really fun.
I never want to escape past that.
This is a really enjoyable situation.
Casey and I couldn't be more genuine telling you
how much we remember and enjoy doing this.
Right.
Like you said, I mean, it's, you walk away
and if you don't have a smile on your face, then I, you know.
That's on you, yeah, that's definitely a you thing.
And then when it comes down to the breaking this down and stuff,
okay, so I'm intrigued.
I would like to do this.
But oh, Casey, I don't know if I have the time.
I work two jobs.
I'm doing this that you guys will work
with that though.
Right.
Yeah, we are willing to work, you know, and, and, you know,
we talk about the meals on wheels program
because that is a huge, huge volunteer based program
that we have, but we are also open
to other volunteer opportunities as well.
You know, whether it be your work organization,
maybe you're looking for kind of a team building opportunity
reach out to us and we have many different things
that can just kind of help boost morale and, and, and just,
you know, give back.
So we are just so thankful of our, our volunteers
and we're willing to work with you,
whatever you're able to provide.
Yeah, it's, it's, there's other opportunities
to volunteer meals on wheels, I think,
is one of the better ones to do.
And I almost said, easier, only in the sense of,
you guys make it hard for us not to volunteer
because you work with the schedule.
I only got an hour, a day free.
Well, you'll work with that hour.
Well, I can't travel too far out of my neighborhood.
You'll work around that.
The Central Wisconsin Wisconsin Rapids in general
has a high senior population.
We throw a rock.
You probably got a senior in your neighborhood.
So, you know, you don't have to travel too far
to drop these meals off either.
And in that respect, you get to know your neighbors
a little bit more, which is something
that we kind of got away from in society.
We just don't do that nearly as much anymore.
That part of this is nice as well.
There's so many different layers to doing something
like this, cannot encourage you enough to reach out
to the gang at the ADRC and be a volunteer
for meals on wheels.
And there are other volunteer opportunities.
And there's plenty of them.
You can reach out to the ADRC to find out about.
Before we go too far from the eating though,
that the eating services that you guys offer over there,
there is a cafe 60.
Can we touch on that for a second?
I don't think we've gotten too very often.
Sure, yep.
So, cafe 60 are designated cafes
that are open to providing meals.
So, this would be looking at more people
that are not home-bound,
but are interested in that nutritious meal.
And so, there are, like I said, various cafes
throughout each community,
the four county region that we serve
that participated in this program.
So, our website does have more information on that.
Or, again, you can give us a call at any time
and staff are able to kind of talk you through
what those cafes are, when they meet,
what they look like, any information
that you're looking for.
I love this idea.
And I remember my not a my grandmother
looking for things to get her out of the house.
Just looking for little events like this,
little things.
So, a friend of hers got a sewing group together
and they started doing that.
And half the time she'd come back and they didn't sew anything.
But they got her out of the house
and she got to do some and see some,
makes new friends and all that.
Even something as simple as that
is a good reason to go ahead and take a part in this.
Right, yeah, just social interaction is just so huge.
I mean, we all need it every day, you know,
and that can just go so far.
So, like you said, you know, you're,
they never really knit anything,
but it was just the social interaction that they had.
That is just so important in people's lives.
And there is, are you guys still have in dining
over there at the ADRC?
Correct, yes, yep, at the Centralia Center.
There is in-person dining as well.
So, again, if that is something that you're interested in,
you can stop on over.
They do have a menu that you can take a look at.
Or like I said, you can give the ADRC a call
and they can provide you that information.
That information is also in our Choices magazine as well.
So, lots of different places to see that information.
But just great opportunities to meet people,
see people that you maybe haven't for a while.
And just have that daily interaction.
All right, so let's go over this again to all of our seniors
out there.
If you need help, please reach out.
We're here for you.
To all you caregivers out there,
if you need help, please reach out.
We're here for you.
We've sent a lot of people your way, Casey.
So, I imagine your phones are going to be pretty busy.
And you're probably going to have a lot of messages waiting
for you when you get back to the office today.
But, understandable.
And all the more reason why we appreciate you
and the team over there, the aging and disability resource
center, thanks so much for the time, Casey.
Thank you for having us.
We really appreciate it.
If people have follow up questions,
want to know more about some of what we talked about today,
how can they reach you?
Yeah, you can just give us a call at 1-888-486-9545.
Or if you're more interested in just looking online first,
you can reach out to our website at www.adrc-cw.org.
Always a good conversation.
Thanks again, Casey.
Thank you.
We'll take a break.
We'll come back and have some more conversation right here
during Midday Magazine on 97-5 FM 13-20 AM, WFHR.
We are locally grown radio.
