Lori La Bey, Alzheimer’s Speaks host, joins Suzanne to talk about the Noble Swan, an Answers for Elders initiative to help support family caregivers.
Suzanne explains the metaphor of the noble swan for caregivers. “The most noble thing you can do is care for someone else. I thought about it a long time, and I thought we need some sort of an icon, that every time you see that icon, it would honor that person, that you get it, the life that they live, that you share that with that other person
“A swan glides across the glassy lake, right? You don’t see anything else but this graceful beauty of this individual. But what’s going on underneath the surface is, these feet are feverishly paddling to get that swan to go to where it’s going. I thought that was just this amazing metaphor of a family caregiver. It’s that person that is always greeting their loved one with a smile. They always have everything together, even though their life is crazy in the background. They hold all the pieces together, and they do everything they can, with so much nobility and so much grace. And that’s why we picked the noble swan.
“We have poems that accompany the Noble Swan and and a very exciting thing starting in November on for National Caregivers Month. We will have a very special bouquet to send to your loved one and in partnership with FTD. So we will learn more about that as we move forward um in November.”
Lori adds, “I just think it’s going to give people so much comfort. It’s going to give the family and friends who want to support a way to support, because they don’t always know how. And so it’s a step in the door, because sometimes you have family and friends that aren’t in the area, they can’t physically help. But boy, having a beautiful bouquet of flowers that is specifically for a caregiver, with a beautiful poem attached to it, it’s just going to be one of those things you walk by, and it’s going to fill your heart every single time, and it’s going to be something that people aren’t going to forget.”
What else can people do to support family caregivers? Lori says, “You know, taking somebody out. It could be a manicure, it could be to a ball game, it could be to a movie. It might just be going out for a walk – cutting grass, it’s endless. Just think of all the things that you do personally you could use help with.”
Learn more:
Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com
Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
