"I did talk on a webinar about Lotsa Helping Hands and I put in a link below. I will put a link to the actual webinar when it comes out because it deals with Alzheimer's disease. I think the concept of LOTSA is great. It is an online community where you can create your own community and what you may need. It is for everyone who needs help, not just those with Alzheimer's disease. For example, if you have a new baby and need help with meals for a couple of weeks, you would register, and then list dates you need help and other facts. Your friends would then look at your calendar and fill in the days they could help with meals, etc. It would work for AD as well. Most of the time, when friends ask what they can do, caregivers are reluctant to ask them to stay with their spouse while they had a few free hours. It is easy, however, to create a calendar and ask for a free afternoon. Then, if a friend or relative has some time--and most people really DO want to help-- they can fill in whatever works for their schedule. I see it as a truly 'win-win' scenario. Anyway, it seems like a super idea to me, so I invite you to check it out below."
http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/
If anyone decides to use this, please let us know how it worked out....
Tried this about 6 years ago after being told about it by the Alzheimer's Association. I was in my late 50's, DH early 60's--friends and relatives around the same ages. At the time, I was overwhelmed with being my Dad's primary caregiver plus DH had been recently dx. It was a complete failure--very little participation. The two people who did offer to post on the calendar were my biggest supports all through dh's illness and remain so today. The others--not so much. Perhaps this would work better with younger people who are more attuned to social media? I also think the stigma still attached to AD makes it harder to use tools like this that were originally developed for cancer patients.