Most of the posts I’ve written for Impressions through Media the past few months have focused on the use of social media in the business world. But like a growing number of people I know, I’ve been personally participating in sites that provide caregiving to friends and loved ones who are facing a serious illness, and in need of support and services.

Around a year ago, I read an article in Cure magazine about the Lotsa Helping Hands website founded by Barry Katz. Barry personally answered my emails when I had questions in a quick and timely manner. His passion for using a site for caregiving is contagious.

The website name stuck in my mind, and when my good friend was about to start treatment for breast cancer three months ago, I remembered the article.

1. Within a couple of days we were able to set-up the free website,
2. The built in features helped organize meals, rides, and a way to keep people informed about my friend’s progress.
3. By sending out invitations to people we knew would want to be a support, we quickly gathered a list of 72 people who we can keep informed, notify when new messages and requests for volunteers have been posted.

Not only has Lotsa Helping Hands been a powerful and gratifying social community experience, its proven to be effective. We never would have been able to coordinate so many tasks or keep so many people informed in such a coordinated manner.Over the past few weeks, I was invited to join a mailing list to CaringBridge, another caregiving site, where I can read a friend’s blog to keep her friends and family up-to-date on her treatments and status. Her posts are a lovely window into her personal life, the mother of two young children, as she and her husband try to maintain as much normalcy at home as they can. Her posts are personal and poignant.

While going through a serious illness with a loved one can often make you feel helpless, caregiving sites provide a vehicle for organizing and empowering a support system– and many offer resources and tips for how caregivers can take care of themselves, too. Catherine Weber, founder of Impressions through Media, and President of CW Consulting Group, shares my interest and researched a wonderful list of caregiving sites. Feel free to pass this information along to people in your life who may also benefit from having these resources.

Lotsa Helping Hands

Caring Bridge

CarePages

Caring Today

Strength for Caring

Caregving.com

Empowering Caregivers

ShirleyBoard

CareGiverHelper

Carespace (coming soon)

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