New Faith-Based Partnership to Help Family Caregivers

Caregiver Health Promotion Program and the resources for ministering to caregivers in our congregations.

New Faith-Based Partnership to Help Family Caregivers

Over the past two years, Partners on the Path has consulted with three partners to form an innovative faith-based partnership:

• CVS Health, the nation’s largest pharmacy company
• Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families, a faith-based health advocacy, education and service organization
• Easter Seals of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a non-profit that provides services, education, outreach and advocacy for people living with disabilities.

The faith-based partnership’s inaugural program will prepare clergy and volunteers to help family caregivers in their congregations.

An extensive 2014-2015 needs assessment led partners to select this priority. Family caregivers in Delaware comprise about 45 percent of the population over 35 years of age, about 202,000 First State residents. They provided 132 million hours of care—worth an estimated $1.56 million—to their parents, spouses, partners, and other adult loved ones in 2014, according to AARP. And the stress of the role puts caregivers at risk for physical and emotional health problems. Caregivers face significant financial issues, as well as work and family problems.

This new faith-based partnership will be officially launched on December 6^th, with a 9-10 am ceremony, at Peniel United Methodist Church, 115 East Market Street, Newport, Delaware.

Equipping Faith Communities for Caregiver Ministry, an educational program for clergy and faith community nurses, other congregational leaders and family caregivers will follow the launch ceremony, from 10 am-3 pm. The goal of this training is to build knowledge about family caregiving and “know-how” about accessing caregiving resources. Participants will gain practical ideas, information and tools for developing Caregiver Ministry in their own congregations.

 

“There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been a caregiver, those who currently are a caregiver, those who will be a caregiver and those who will need one. Caregiving is universal. At some point in time, everyone’s life is touched by it.”
—Former First Lady Roslyn Carter

“What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?
—Micah 6:8