For seniors and others living with chronic illness, simply getting up, out of bed, and dressed for the day can be a major — and very real — ordeal. For some, stiffness in the joints can cause a fall as they struggle to get up. For others coping with an asthma flare-up, an out-of-reach inhaler can trigger a crisis.
Later this month, thanks to a new program being offered through the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services, individuals living with chronic illness will no longer have to cope on their own.
Whether they suffer from fatigue, arthritis, asthma, heart problems, diabetes, hypertension, or a combination of several diseases, they soon will be able to find support by gathering together and taking peer-led classes on managing chronic illness.
“There is a real need and desire for this program,” said Mickey Sherman, a former registered nurse now responsible for senior programming at the JFCS. “Our goal is to help sufferers, their family and caregivers learn healthier ways to live with chronic diseases.”
Called “Living A Healthier Life with Chronic Conditions,” the program begins Wednesday, Feb. 13 at JFCS in San Francisco, with eventual plans to expand to Marin and the Peninsula. It is expected to attract a large number of seniors, but is open to adults of any age, Jewish and non-Jewish.
The course was developed at Stanford University’s Patient Education Resource Center in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente of Northern California. JFCS and other partnering organizations are utilizing the course as part of a community-outreach effort.
JFCS is incorporating the six-week, 2-1/2-hour sessions, taught by volunteer instructors who are living with chronic diseases themselves, into its wellness programs.
“We felt it was important to have teachers who are managing chronic illness in their own lives,” explained Sherman, noting that the JFCS training program, which began this week, was provided at no cost to the instructors.
Debbi Goodman, volunteer coordinator of JFCS’ Seniors at Home program, is involved in training the volunteers — who will teach in rotating teams — for the chronic illness program.
“This is exciting new territory for us,” said Goodman, who knows what it’s like to suffer from chronic pain. For years she struggled with chronic back pain, but through diet and exercise, has learned to keep it under control.
Classes are expected to enroll up to 50 students per session and will be taught based on a book provided by Kaiser, with such topics as becoming a self-manager, finding resources of support and understanding symptoms.
They will learn, for instance, that a chronic illness isn’t the name of just one malady. It’s a word used to describe a group of health conditions that last a long time. In fact, the root word of chronic is chronos, which refers to time.
According to the Chronic Illness Research Foundation, over the last four decades, there has been an explosion of chronic illness in the United States, with more than 125 million Americans currently coping with a chronic disease.
“There are many kinds of chronic illness and the main thing is we want them [participants] to feel they are not alone,” said Janet Tobacman, project coordinator of the Healthier Living program at Kaiser. And, though many who cope with chronic illness may never find cures for their condition, Tobacman said they can definitely find ways to manage it and ease their stress.
Tobacman, who is Jewish, said she is thrilled that JFCS will be running the program, which has already “helped thousands of people cope with chronic illness and gain back some control over their lives.”
She also urged people interested in the program outside of the regions served by JFCS to contact her at Kaiser at (510) 987-3726 for more information about possible classes and training in their areas.