San Diego County's AGING & CAREGIVERS INFO

Seniors Help Seniors Through Tough Times

By Pamela B. Smith, Director, County's Aging & Independence Services

By helping other seniors, Leslie Saunders says she's learning "an awful lot about how to live. It's a first-class education on what to do and what not to do as I get older. I'm learning to spend my time and energy on things that matter."

She is a senior peer counselor in a program piloted in North County earlier this year with funding from County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, the Bravo Foundation and other partners. Peer counselors are not professional therapists, but coaches or mentors for older adults who are having a difficult time.

Leslie helps two seniors now; "both are pretty much homebound with physical and mental problems." She calls them regularly and meets with them at least once a week, most often just sitting and talking. She encourages them to share anything that might be bothering them.

"Both were not very trusting at first," she says. "I found that if I just showed up with a cup of coffee, that broke the ice. They learned that I didn't have any other agenda. They have so many people coming by to sell them things. I told them that I'm a retiree myself and I'm just here to listen."

Besides listening, peer counselors often offer resources that might be helpful. Leslie helped one of the women secure an elder law attorney and a podiatrist; "she hadn't had foot care for a long time."

What has amazed this peer counselor is "how isolated some people can feel even in Southern California. Both of these people had professional careers, and even people who are retired professionals can become isolated very quickly."

Isolation and loneliness are common among those older adults who are being helped by this program. Many have also lost spouses or other loved ones and are grieving. Or they've had to relocate. Sometimes they're caregivers who are stressed.

"The senior peer counselors all have had life experiences themselves that enable them to understand the needs of other seniors," says Lorri Sullivan, Ph.D., with AIS's Senior Team in North County. She facilitates weekly meetings with the peer counselors where they can seek advice and share tips with one another.

Senior Peer Project counselors initially receive 12 sessions of training with licensed clinical social workers, Ray Schwartz and Bob Torres-Stanovik, who used to coordinate a similar program several years ago.

"We talk about confidentiality, and go through the various laws, such as elder abuse. We discuss what you can and cannot do as a peer counselor. We tell them to steer clear of giving advice," Ray says. "They're not professional counselors and they can be held responsible for advice they give. They're in no position to tell people what to do."

This project has a component for Spanish-speaking clients and peer counselors, who are referred to as "promotores." In the Mexican culture, promotoras are women who are known to their neighbors as helpers who provide culturally appropriate health information. In this peer counseling role, promotores (men and women) expand health information to mental health information and support, as clients allow. "Mental health issues have a great stigma among Latinos", according to Viviana Criado, who coordinates the County's Older Adult Mental Health program. Viviana spearheaded the recreation of the Senior Peer Project and developed the special appeal to Spanish-speaking older adults. To bring promotores and potential clients together, the program adds a social component, inviting older Spanish-speaking adults to a social gathering each Friday night, Viviana says. "This is a non-threatening way to get to know each other. Then the promotoras can approach people on how they might be able to help them."

Both the Spanish and English peer counseling programs welcome more volunteers, as well as clients. There is no cost for this assistance. For Senior Peer Promotores, contact Neighborhood Healthcare, 425 N. Date St., Escondido; phone (760) 520-8324. For the Senior Peer Project, contact Lorri Sullivan at (760) 739-6152.

On Jan. 12, a training will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Naval Medical Center near Balboa Park to establish a peer counseling program for military retirees and their spouses. For information, contact Joyce DiCicco at (619) 532-6528.

AIS strongly supports these preventive programs to aid older adults with depression and other mental health concerns. At the next Aging Summit to be held in June, mental health will be one of three focus topics, along with older adult obesity and senior employment.

The Senior Peer Project will be having a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at Redwood ElderLink, 1151 S. Redwood in Escondido. Cost: $20. To RSVP, call Sandy Lawrensen at (858) 505-6448.