Living Well : Less Stress, Better Health, and More Love

Living Well: Less Stress, Better Health and More Love for the Caring Team

Living Well was honored by AARP's Social Impact Award as "a simple mind-body-spirit program for seniors, adults and teens of any faith or no faith." It enables the entire Caring Team (patients, caregivers, aides, volunteers, professionals) to help themselves and others to heal each piece of the Wellness Puzzle. Videos, stories, poems, music and journaling are used to co-create family-centered wellness plans that include both medical doctors and alternative services (e.g., chiropractic, yoga, tai chi, meditation, massage, homeopathic). Links to related research from the National Institutes of Health is provided plus a free "Less Stress, Better Health and More Love" workbook. This is published under a Creative Commons license so anyone can use, distribute and improve the Living Well skills and systems without needing to seek prior permission. It is designed to complement mandated training for health aides to reduce burnout among both paid and family caregivers. The content and classes are available from any smartphone, tablet or PC.

The program has been developed by Tom DeLoughry, Ed.D. and Kathy DeLoughry, MS, whose fifty-year collaboration has produced programs for Children's Hospital, the American Lung Association, Independent Health, New York State United Teachers, the Health Association of Niagara County, the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Life and Death Transitions, Stella Niagara and the Office for the Aging in both Niagara and Erie Counties. The Living Well Learning Collaborative, hosted by Unity of Buffalo, is an ongoing effort so that professionals, aides and caregivers can learn from each others successes and stumbles to improve the outcomes of care, while addressing the social determinants of health.