By Khalida Sarwari
Going for a walk is something many people can do on a whim, but for some it’s a luxury that requires carving out a specific block of time. Some family caregivers have little time to look after themselves, let alone take to a meandering trail for a few hours in the afternoon. But a new program at the Saratoga Senior Center is encouraging caregivers to do just that.
The Meet and Move program was piloted in Mountain View a few years ago and is an offshoot of LinkAges, a Palo Alto Medical Foundation program that encourages people to share their time and talents with others, such as offering someone a ride to the grocery store, for example. Meet and Move is essentially a “walk and talk” support network that aims to give caregivers a break from the challenges of looking after their loved ones by providing them downtime and an opportunity to improve their own health and well-being.
Since 2014, Meet and Move has been introduced at senior centers across the peninsula and West Valley region, including in the cities of Los Altos, Sunnyvale and Cupertino. Redwood City, Los Gatos, San Jose and Saratoga are next.
Behind the program’s rise has been project consultant and Sunnyvale resident Cyndi Mariner, who saw membership increase from eight to 85 and still growing.
Mariner became involved shortly after seeing an ad for the program in a Sunnyvale newspaper. She said at the time she was looking after her elderly mother and ill brother, and she figured it wouldn’t hurt to attend an orientation to see what the program was about. For someone who had dedicated much of her time to driving her mother and brother to their doctor’s appointments, nursing her mother to health when she got pneumonia and taking care of any task, big or small, all the while reassuring her friends that she was fine–“which is the biggest lie I’ve ever told,” she said with a laugh–it didn’t take long for Mariner to realize she needed the kind of outlet a program such as Meet and Move provided.
“Immediately from talking to folks in the program, you start hearing everybody’s story,” she said. “You’re questioning, ‘Am I saying the right thing? Am I doing enough? Am I doing too much?’ It’s like you’re talking to a group of friends and you don’t have to explain yourself. So it became pretty clear to me that night that this was going to be a breakthrough for me.”
Her membership eventually turned into a job. After her mother died of a heart attack last year and brother moved up to Sacramento, she dedicated more of her time to the program, helping to organize weekly walks, a monthly speaker series and bimonthly excursions at locations throughout the peninsula and South Bay.
“The premise of all of it is really to get family caregivers to start caring for themselves,” she said.
An orientation will take place April 19 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Saratoga Senior Center. Both the orientation and program are open to everyone, not just Saratoga residents, said Mariner. There is no cost to join the program, and registration is ongoing.
“It’s not another commitment; it’s a breath of air,” she said. “This program will change your life. It will give you air again.”
To learn more about Meet and Move, call Mariner at 650.934.3556, email meetandmove@linkages.orgor visit meetandmove.org.
Link: ‘Meet and Move’ program offers a bit of a break for family caregivers
