Kapok Senior and Caregiver Resources was developed as a resource site for people involved in caring for others, including direct and indirect roles. Our emphasis is on caregiving for senior family members, particularly from a multicultural perspective. However, many of the resources and posts also apply to other forms of caregiving and other situations.
Through this site we aim to provide a range of resources and discussion about the various elements of caregiving and the challenges that both caregivers and family members face on a regular basis. We also encourage you to interact with us through the comments sections of individual posts, especially if you have any questions about caregiving. We particularly welcome requests for topics to discuss or resources that deserve highlighting.
Myself personally, I was inspired to pursue a career in the field of aging after witnessing my own parents’ emotional struggle to navigate health and social services as they cared for numerous relatives over the years with diabetes and advanced Alzheimer’s disease. I have spent that past two decades immersed in projects and research addressing the needs of poor seniors and caregivers, and directly with immigrant and minority families in New York City, San Diego, CA, Houston, TX, and now the Washington D.C. area.
We all care a great deal about our families, but are struggling to meet many demands – children, work and financial commitments, just to name a few. To make matters worse, health and social services in this country can be very confusing. The lack of resources in you or your parents’ primary language and the lack of culturally based services makes it all the more complicated.
At the same time, caregiving itself is a challenging role, one that often comes with considerable mental and physical strain. Often caregivers do not have all the knowledge they need to support family members and may struggle to know the best ways to move forward.
Through Kapok (the Mayan word for Tree of Life), we bring you the resources and strategies to help you and your family find affordable options for care, and to support yourselves.
On our blog page , you’ll also find informative articles and fact sheets, written in multiple languages, on a variety of topics including: community resources, Medicaid and Medicare, long-distance and out-of-the-country caregiving, housing, transportation, disease-specific issues, and the emotional nuances of caregiving.
We also have a team of people involved in developing content, each of whom have some background and experience in the fields of geriatrics or caregiving.
As we grow, we welcome your suggestions for improving our services and accept recommendations for article topics for our blog.
We have also developed a comprehensive Guide to Affordable Housing and are working on developing other guides in the future.
We look forward to serving you!
Yours truly,
Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH
Owner / Gerontologist
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