Profile of Workshop Caregiver/Participant

The caregivers in your workshop will be a heterogeneous group. There may be a wide range in age, education, cultural background, work experience and life experience. Throughout the course of six weeks, you will build on one commonality - they are all caregivers to a family member or close friend.

At this point, it is appropriate to review some basic principles of adult education as they relate to the participants in your educational session. First, the caregivers/participants will bring to the workshop their own experience and certain expectations. What they learn in the sessions will be determined to a large degree by their readiness to assimilate new information, and its relevance to their own situation. Their focus is "problem-centered".

Everyone will learn different things and at different rates. These workshops are not based on a teacher/student model, but on a facilitator/participant model - quite a different scenario. The caregivers have the ultimate responsibility in the assimilation of new information in the manner most appropriate for them. You can reinforce that effective learning often enhances choices. Learning can profoundly affect attitudes, which in turn can lead to the most significant change. Caregivers have much to contribute from their own experience - the sharing aspect is an important component of the sessions.

Some caregivers who come to the workshop may be in crisis - even at the point of exhaustion - mentally, physically, or both. They may see these sessions as a "lifeline". Others may be relatively comfortable in the caregiving role, coping well with manageable demands but see the need for preparing for a time when more information is needed. Still others may be just beginning the journey of preparing for the caregiving role.

Whatever their unique experiences, caregivers are often warm, genuinely caring people who are trying to juggle many roles. Caregiving is most often an "add-on" - in addition to work and other family responsibilities. Time is a precious commodity for caregivers and their commitment to attend six sessions is a major one. Clearly they want to invest their time wisely in ways that will be of most benefit to their current circumstances. They will gain many new insights throughout the six-week session, often learning from each other in the recognition that others share similar experiences.