2nd Annual Caregiver Symposium on Tap

A year ago, Phoenix resident Addison Diehl began a new chapter of his life—becoming a full-time caregiver for his mom, Page Schenck, 85, who has late stage Parkinson’s disease.
To learn more about caregiving, Diehl attended the first Caregiver Symposium, hosted by Duet: Partners In Health & Aging, in October 2016.
“I attended originally just to get more information, but what Dr. Boss [Pauline Boss, PhD] said about caregiving oftentimes being an isolating, lonely experience took a weight off my shoulders,” Diehl said. “Because of the Symposium, I got involved with Duet and found support, mentorship and a new lens to look at caregiving and ambiguous loss.”
Now, a year later, Diehl is a volunteer with Duet, a nonprofit that promotes health and well-being through a broad range of services to homebound adults, family caregivers, faith communities and grandparents raising grandchildren. He is involved in making this year’s Caregiver Symposium, which takes place on November 2 at Church of the Beatitudes in Phoenix, a success.
“I worked in higher education, and becoming a caregiver was a huge transition; I had an identity crisis and had to rebuild my identity as a caregiver by learning through experience one day at a time,” Diehl said.
At the upcoming Caregiver Symposium, Duet will gather expert panelists to share how to navigate physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being through periods of high stress. In addition to the panel discussion, there will be an afternoon session where volunteers and professionals can attend a free training to become a facilitator for Duet’s new family caregiver video series, “Finding Meaning and Hope,” based on Loving Someone Who Has Dementia, by Pauline Boss.
“The Family Caregiver Symposium is designed to equip, empower and celebrate family caregivers who take on some of society’s most difficult and undervalued work,” said Ann Wheat, director of family caregiving services at Duet. “The symposium will allow caregivers to learn about difficult transitions, how best to handle these from a place of empowerment and hope, and to also connect with hundreds of other caregivers through lunch and socialization.”
The morning session of the Family Caregiver Symposium will include a panel discussion featuring Amy Goyer, AARP’s national family caregiver expert; Pauline Boss, family therapist and pioneering theorist; and Maribeth Gallagher, dementia program director for Hospice of the Valley’s dementia care program. Lin Sue Cooney, director of community engagement for Hospice of the Valley will serve as the session’s moderator.
The Caregiver Symposium’s signature sponsor is AARP Phoenix.
Info: www.duetaz.org.