Re: Using Healthy Touch to Support and Nourish our Elders & Care Givers

We are very pleased to update and report on our Global Touch Project using our 15-Minute StressOut Program to support the health and well being of our Elders.

On Friday, March 17, 2006 our newly formed Las Cruces Health Promotion Team with Elders conducted a county-wide workshop for caregivers and professionals interested in learning how to give and receive “safe, skillful and loving” touch. We had over 50 participants attend our 3hr. workshop and established a core team of volunteers to become certified and to administer our ‘chair type’ massage program.

Following our workshop, our administrative team met to review our project and to plan for follow up workshops in nursing homes and other resources and to conduct regularly scheduled meeting with elders interested in reducing their stress, anxiety and depression. In our city, there are three sites established to give health support and diabetes examinations weekly as this disease has reached epidemic proportions here in New Mexico and west Texas. In the US it is reported that there are over 21 million people who have diabetes.

Because of our successful research related to using touch to reduce blood Sugar levels and to promote health and wellness of this population our new volunteers are preparing themselves to administer our stress management program weekly in these diabetic centers.

We are hopeful that New Civilization Network members and other communities will join with us in developing and administering our healthy touch program for elders on a global scale.

Do visit our website to see our student social workers and our elders are partnering up to give and receive healthy, loving touch to support their health and wellbeing. http://pages.zdnet.com/jerryvest Tweet