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Information about the author of this post.
tlwe223's picture Terri Weber, MSW, CSW
Elder Care Specialist
College or Department
Work-Life and Well-Being
Phone Number
(859) 218-0457
Email Address
terri.weber@uky.edu

Grief is a natural response to loss. For a caregiver, that grief can begin during your caregiving responsibilities. In fact it often starts the day you hear of your loved one’s diagnosis.  The grieving process begins when the loss is recognized, and continues on until that loss is accepted.

Throughout the extended caregiving journey, you will experience many types of losses – loss of the relationship, as it was, loss of future hopes and dreams, loss of financial stability and more. After your loved one dies and your caregiving responsibilities end, you are coping with loss, grief and change all at the same time. Your everyday world will be much different. The tasks and responsibilities you once performed will no longer be a part of your daily routine. Moving past your caregiver duties and readjusting to the world around you will be an important part of making your way through the grieving process. 

You need to acknowledge that the grief exists. Do not just hide it away in the back corners of your mind. Accept these negative feelings – sadness, fear, anxiety - and allow yourself to feel what you are feeling. If you block these uncomfortable feelings you are blocking your ability to move on. 

The best way to cope with grief is to rebuild yourself and your life; to move past your old role into your new life. So....What do you do, now that you are no longer a caregiver? We hope you will join us as we answer this very question at the half-day workshop, "Life After Caregiving" on Thursday, March 23, 2017 from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The workshop will be conducted by Linda Barrett, Visiting Assistant Professor of Gerontology, Miami University (Ohio). Linda will share with us how to separate from our caregiving identity; how to readjust to the world around us; and how forming new relationships is an important part of reclaiming our life. The event takes place on the University of Kentucky campus in the Commons Room of the Wethington Allied Health Building, located at 900 S. Limestone. Complimentary parking will be available for those coming from off-campus in the 

UK HealthCare Parking Garage 

-110 Transcript Avenue (corner of S. Limestone), Lexington, KY.

The half-day workshop is open to the general public as well as UK employees, retirees and students. The registration deadline is Thursday, March 16, 2017. There is a $15.00 registration fee. (Financial assistance is available to UK employees, retirees and students).  Please click here to register.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy said, “It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” 

Finding ways to reclaim your life and readjust to your new role as a non-caregiver will allow you to find peace. I hope you can join us.