{"id":5234,"date":"2013-10-07T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=5234"},"modified":"2013-10-07T11:56:51","modified_gmt":"2013-10-07T18:56:51","slug":"elders-geezer-forums-helpful-for-information-and-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/elders-geezer-forums-helpful-for-information-and-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"Elders: Geezer Forums helpful for information and connections"},"content":{"rendered":"<style><!--\np.padding {padding-left:.5cm;}\n--><\/style>\n<p><em>Nurturing Elders and Others<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Geezer Forums helpful for information and connections<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>By the Rev. Paul Graves<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what is your agenda, Paul?\u201d  The woman and I never met before she asked me that question.  \u201cMy agenda is whatever you want to talk about, Betty.\u201d  That\u2019s how the first Geezer Forum got started in Sandpoint in January 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Is your local church trying to think of ways to reach out to your community and involve older adults at the same time?  The Geezer Forum is something I\u2019ve invested myself in since that January afternoon.  So I wanted to share it with you as a possible model that could easily be adapted to your own setting.<\/p>\n<p>Our forum has become a wonderful ministry and a source of helpful information about various topics of concern to older adults.  A moment of full disclosure:  The Geezer Forum I host in Sandpoint, Idaho is not a ministry of the Sandpoint United Methodist Church.  Rather, it is part of my consulting ministry, Elder Advocates, Inc.  <\/p>\n<p>Some members of our congregations are regular participants in the Geezer Forum, but it is open to persons in our general community.  Yet it takes on the tone of a caring community \u2013 which is one reason the Church is in business.<\/p>\n<p>The Geezer Forum grew almost naturally out of the \u201cDear Geezer\u201d column I\u2019ve been writing in our local daily newspaper since January 2009.  But I wanted to invite folks into a more personal conversation about aging issues than is possible in a newspaper column. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Geezer Forum\u201d seemed the right vehicle.  It still seems that way.  We meet on the second and fourth Wednesday afternoons of each month in a \u201ccommunity room\u201d at one of our local banks.  <\/p>\n<p>Our first forums were no-agenda gatherings.  When folks started asking to deal with topics we identified together, I began to invite \u201cresource persons\u201d who had some experience and expertise on those topics.  <\/p>\n<p>On September 24 of this year, for instance, we asked the question:  \u201cWhat Do I Need to Know about Medicare and the Affordable Health Care Act?\u201d  Two local health care insurance agents were our resource persons.  (A year ago, we looked at the Medicare Enrollment process, again with an insurance agent.)  Both times, agents were with us to share information, not to sell insurance.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t always deal with issues that begin \u201cout there\u201d in the community.  Sometimes we will focus on what is going on in our inner lives.  We\u2019ve asked these kinds of questions:  \u201cWhat is like for you to be old?\u201d  \u201cHow do we challenge the stereotypes of older women \/ older men?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve had participatory Geezer Forums on the benefits of yoga, massage therapy, and physical fitness for balance and strength.  A local health club even started a \u201c60+ Fitness\u201d class after their fitness director led one of our forums.<\/p>\n<p>We have looked at all kinds of community resources that older adults already use, or will possibly use in the future \u2013 like nursing homes, assisted living facilities\u2014or services like home health and home care agencies.  Our topics are limited only by our curiosity and imaginations.<\/p>\n<p>We try to be sensitive to what is happening in our community as it relates to aging and older adults.  Last May we asked the CEO of our local hospital to help us understand the significant transitions that were happening in the medical community of Bonner County \u2013 doctors retiring, the hospital developing new programs, etc.  The 70 people who came made up our largest group to date.  <\/p>\n<p>Some participants attend based on whether they like the topic being discussed.  Those who are more regular in attending have developed new friendships and found new people to care about.  I count that as solid ministry.<\/p>\n<p>What is your church doing to reach out to older adults with no church-strings attached? You might consider offering accurate aging-related information and authentic caring to the general community.  From where I stand, it really works!<\/p>\n<p><em><center>The Rev. Paul Graves serves as the chair for the Commission on Older Adult Ministries for the PNWUMC. <\/center><\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rqmweb.com\/results.asp?q=pnwumc&#038;resID=2634&#038;detail=Y\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"When Your Parent Needs You (D4427)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/RESOURCES_WhenYourParent.jpg?w=696\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\n<p class=\"padding\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rqmweb.com\/results.asp?q=pnwumc&#038;resID=2634&#038;detail=Y\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>When Your Parent Needs You (D4427)<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nCaring for an aging parent affects every aspect of our lives. This video focuses on becoming your parents\u2019 caregiver, experiencing life changes, and dealing with stress while focusing on the positive aspects of caregiving.  To check the availability of this resource, e-mail the <a href=\"mailto:ejohanson@pnwumc.org?Subject=Re: When Your Parent Needs You (D4427)\">Regional Media Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/channels\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Channels 66\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Channels_66_cover_149px.jpg?w=696\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\n<p class=\"padding\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/channels\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Channels 66 is NOW AVAILABLE<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nERTs needed in Colorado \u2022 Faith leaders warn of implications of U.S. shutdown \u2022 UM Agency condemns chemical weapons \u2022 Mission u\/5 Columns of Mission \u2022 Paul Jeffrey visits the PNW (schedule) \u2022 Giving to an Advance Project \u2022 Methodist Missionaries in the Congo \u2022 Why We Still March! \u2022 Walker: On My Deafness and Blindness \u2022 The Father&#8217;s Heart \u2022 Musings: Love Notes \u2022 Bishop: Church as a living organism \u2022 Nurturing Elders: Geezer Forums helpful for info, connections \u2022 To subscribe to Channels, e-mail <a href=\"mailto:jlove@pnwumc.org?Subject=Re: Sign me up for Channels!\">channels@pnwumc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nurturing Elders and Others Geezer Forums helpful for information and connections By the Rev. Paul Graves \u201cSo what is your agenda, Paul?\u201d The woman and I never met before she asked me that question. \u201cMy agenda is whatever you want to talk about, Betty.\u201d That\u2019s how the first Geezer Forum got started in Sandpoint in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":5237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,142],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-older-adult-ministries"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/INSIGHTS_NurturingElders.jpg?fit=600%2C308&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-1mq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5234"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5242,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5234\/revisions\/5242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}