Caring for our Community

Teletherapy • Virtual Show & Tell Sessions • Webex Seminars: In a COVID World Grief Support is Needed Even More

As one of the six programs of the NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation, the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief provides free grief counseling services to all ages.

During the team’s 2019 winter planning session for the 2020 year, the staff brainstormed ideas on reaching those who couldn’t attend in-person sessions because of injury, disability, or distance they lived from the Center. Supported by a grant from the MidAmerica Transplant Foundation, the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief planned to introduce telemental health services in January of 2021. They expected to take 2020 to plan and develop a program, train staff, and build the infrastructure needed to accommodate remote therapy sessions.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Things started shutting down. Outside of staff, the Center wasn’t allowed to have people on-site, so they decided to dive in and start providing tele-sessions immediately. The Grief Center staff simply couldn’t imagine not seeing their established clients and families, and worried about those that would soon be seeking services.

Adapting telemental health sessions for all clients has required additional innovation. Children, who are primarily seen in a play environment, are now being seen in sibling sets, groups, with a parent, or sent activities virtually or through the mail to help them process their grief. Many sessions are conducted as a “show and tell” of projects and activities these kids have worked on from one session to another. The communication skills among the family units seems to improve with these activities, as often multiple people in the home are working on the projects.

Adult clients continue to connect in virtual ways and can see and hear their therapist just as if it is in-person. For teenagers, telemental health sessions may be more productive as there seems to be a sort of security behind a screen. The teens are opening up even more with the use of technology, with little or no issues transitioning to these types of services.

Telemental health sessions have created new challenges. Many of a counselor’s tools are in the office and not compatible with video conferencing. In addition, body language and non-verbal cues are important in evaluating a situation, and those aren’t always portrayed in a virtual setting. Therapists have had to dissuade adult clients from multitasking during sessions and teach them to treat it as though they are in a session in our office. A safe, quiet, and private location is a key component to a productive session.

The world of consoling those with physical touch – hugs, a handshake, or a pat on the back – is now unable to happen in our current COVID world. Teletherapy doesn’t allow for those interactions either and are definitely missed when in a vulnerable, intimate, mourning state for our clients.

The NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief has served more than 560 people since opening in 2017. In 2019 alone, the Center provided more than 1,200 individual grief sessions to 237 individuals. To date, there are 144 new clients in year 2020.

The need for grief support is still prominent in our community, even more so given the COVID19 related deaths that are impacting many families. In Arkansas, there have been over 1,600 deaths due to COVID-19 in 2020 thus far. And, according to the Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model, 1 in 11 Arkansas children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before the age of 18. That ranks 11th in the United States. In Missouri, 1 in 12 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. These numbers are the very reason our Center is open and will continue to meet the needs of our grieving communities.

The goal of the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief is to provide a safe environment for grieving children, teens, and adults to explore and express their feelings after the death of a loved one and to learn to thrive in a world without that special person.

Mandy Young, Program Manager Mandy.Young@bmhcc.org Center for Good Grief NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation

2020 has been a year to remember. In the midst of an unexpected pandemic that changed the way we view life, dispense medical care, educate our children and live our lives, there has been HOPE, empathy and a renewed appreciation for the things that are “Really Important”. Hugs, a touch or pat on the back, a smile – gestures that we exchanged frequently and often took for granted are now what we miss most.

We have certainly seen that in HopeCircle. We shut the doors of the Resource Center from mid-March until the first of May. While we weren’t physically present in the Cancer Center, we made sure there were snacks available for patients, followed up with encouraging calls, texts and emails to volunteers, families and staff. While those things are important, what is most important is human interaction and contact. When we re-opened HopeCircle, we knew we would be functioning a little differently, but we would be “present” for our patients, families and staff.

Some events were canceled, such as our annual Grief Seminar in partnership with ASU College of Nursing and Health Professions.

Our annual Cancer Survivors’ Day event was restructured into a socially distanced car event on the NEA Baptist Campus. The CSD Drive By Parade was a huge success!! Many who attended and volunteered declared it the “Best One Ever”. The weather was perfect. Chris & Kim Fowler and Kentucky Fried Chicken provided lunches and Wallace & Jama Fowler were our parade grand marshals. Kim Provost and her committee proved you really can change as needed and can create a celebration to remember, if your heart is open and your hands are willing. “Season of Hope” provided another opportunity for us to shift our focus from in-person, large events, such as Touch a Truck. Teal Talk and Hoping for a Cure. We utilized the media and social media to spread the importance of Hope through personal comments, songs, quotes and videos. The results were touching, inspiring, funny and effective. We appreciate those who shared their Hope with others. The perfect ending to “Season of Hope” was the annual ShareHope Walk of Remembrance on the NEA Baptist campus.

HopeCircle continues to provide free wigs, hats, turbans, pillows, afghans and other needed items for our patients. Many of our volunteers have been self-quarantining and have more time to create items for us. We are grateful to them for their talent and their willingness to provide for our patients.

As we look forward to the holiday season, we are reminded of all we have to give thanks for and to celebrate, especially in these uncertain times. We are thankful for the opportunity to “be here” for our patients and families; and we are thankful for the trust you put in HopeCircle and our Fowler Family Center for Cancer Care. Thank You.

June Morse, Program Manager June.Morse@bmhcc.org HopeCircle NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation

Center For Healthy Children & Wellness Works! Where are you on the spectrum of health?

My name is Will and I joined the NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation as the program manager of WellnessWorks! and the Center for Healthy Children a little over a year ago. I have made a few changes since and I think they are taking both programs in the right direction.

program has an in-depth orientation with me. We review exercise history, medical, and family health history during this orientation. With that info, I can fine-tune a prescription to fit that specific person to (hopefully) get them to a state where the severity of their symptoms diminishes. Nutrition education, on a one on one basis to better help the individual make healthier choices, also takes place.

Did you know several people refer to health as a fixed point rather than an ever-changing continuum? If you think about it, a person never reaches a point where they no longer need to work on their fitness or cease making healthy choices. Your health, on a sliding scale, is dynamic, and it changes every moment based on the choices you make. Too many people oscillate towards the lower end of the spectrum, where we see chronic disease, medications, and premature death. The goal of both programs is to meet people where they are and get them to a better average point on this health spectrum.

The center for Healthy Children program has shifted to resemble more of a group exercise class. Since the goal of the program is to help obese children lose weight and get into the habit of becoming more physically active, the majority of sessions are for doing just that. We workout, we play games, we run, we walk. We do just about anything except sit. We have known for decades that obesity is the result of too many calories and not enough movement, so for us, the obvious solution to that problem is more activity. Classes are held four times a week, Monday thru Thursday. With these four days of extra movement in their week, we hope to see positive changes in weight and overall tolerance to exercise. These two outcomes (hopefully) set the children down a better path regarding their future health.

WellnessWorks! Has also gotten away from the classroom setting and has focused on an individualized exercise prescription. Individuals referred to WW! are diagnosed with a chronic disease, sometimes more than one. Usually, diseases that cannot be reversed, only tolerated. This is the precise need for a targeted approach to management through exercise prescriptions. Every person who starts the

Will Oliver, Program Manager Will.OliverIII@BMHCC.org Center For Healthy Children Wellness Works! NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation This year presented a unique challenge to both programs with the onset of the nationwide pandemic. Our gym closed down and with schools closed CHC had to cease all classes. I was concerned for my participants, and if they would be able to maintain their progress during this lock-down. My first attempt was to provide everyone with at-home workouts, exercise bands, and encouragement. It worked for some, but the reality of the matter was that at-home workouts get repetitive and boring when confined to your home for days on end. I decided to focus my encouragement on continuing the process when the gym reopened. We allowed everyone to restart the 12-week program, ensuring them that we wanted to see their success and that the pandemic would not win. This group of participants just recently finished their restarted program. They performed remarkably. Most of them are now members at the NEA Baptist Clinic wellness center, continuing their journey towards better health.

One of my first ever clients, Brittney Lam, came to me over 400 lbs, pre-diabetic, and fearful of her family history. Brittney lost her sister due to complications with diabetes/ obesity. She was afraid that she was following a similar path after her latest trip to the doctor. After that visit, she reluctantly began working with me, not knowing what to expect. Together, we created a series of workout plans and habit changes for her to pursue to help her escape the foreboding future her health was casting. Now, 200 lbs later, Brittney is no longer pre-diabetic, no longer obese (BMI), and living a very active lifestyle. Brittney is a shining example of what can happen when you take those first steps towards bettering your health and continue taking them well after the program is over. Well done Brittney!

In order to participate in this program you must be referred by your physician who can best determine whether you are a good candidate for these programs. For more information or to obtain a referral, you may visit our website www. neabaptistfoundation.org or visit us at NEA Baptist Clinic Wellness Center at 2617 Phillips Drive, Jonesboro, AR 72401 or by calling (870) 936-7960.

For Those Who Have Suffered the Loss of a Baby

Since the first of this year, ShareHope has been able to assist 18 different families with funeral expenses, and support services. To many of these families, funeral expenses are a huge burden, added to their already existing tragedy. All of these families have been able to come in for grief support at absolutely no cost.

Recently, a precious family endured the tragic loss of their newborn son. The mother of the baby was extremely grateful for ShareHope, and the services we are able to provide. On a recent social media post, she described how thankful she was for our program.

She said: “ShareHope provided us with indescribable comfort during our stay. They provided us with precious reminders of my son’s life. We have been so blessed by their services, and will continue to be blessed by them during follow-up appointments, counseling, and other events.”

One way we can provide hope and healing for these families is through memorial events. On October 3rd, hundreds of people gathered, socially distanced and masked, at the NEA Baptist Main Medical Campus for the ShareHope Walk of Remembrance. Sponsors of the event brought in over $4,000 which directly benefited our ShareHope Family Fund.

As we continue to serve families through ShareHope, we would like to thank our community for the many donations of hats, booties, blankets, clothes, monetary donations, and much more. These things have allowed us to help others in need, during such a tragic time.

Rebecca Propst, Program Manager Rebecca.Propst@BMHCC.org ShareHope NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation Did you know that many pharmaceutical companies have Patient Assistance Programs (PAP) that give free medications to qualified individuals? Most new, expensive medications (generic unavailable) have a PAP. The NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation’s Medicine Assistance Program (MAP) helps patients locate and complete the required paperwork to participate in these programs.

Our purpose is to help anyone who meets the criteria set forth by each PAP regardless of where they receive their healthcare. Maintenance medications are often very expensive and our goal is to help you find a resource to provide these medication(s).

Our MAP staff will assist you with each step to make the process as simple as possible. We obtain the needed physician signatures and submit your application. In addition, our program will call in refills and assist with re-enrollment.

One thing to note, we are unable to assist with narcotics or temporary medications, such as cold and flu medicines, antibiotics, etc. The enrollment process typically takes four to eight weeks. If you are struggling to afford your medication, please contact us, even if you have insurance or above-average income you may still qualify.

For more information or to request an application, please call 870-934-5400. You may also access our application online at www. neabaptistfoundation.org/programs/ medicine-assistance-program/

Nancy Gandy, Program Manager Nancy.Gandy@bmhcc.org Medicine Assistance Program NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation