Robert and Shirley

Robert and Shirley are in their 80s. Robert has dementia, and Shirley is his chief caregiver. Both have a number of on-going medical concerns. Faith in Action provides the couple with rides to their medical appointments. Because of Robert's condition, they always ride together, whether the appointment is for Robert or for Shirley. Robert understands that he needs to be with Shirley to be safe, but this also means that he gets quite anxious if she's in the doctor's exam room without him. When Faith in Action volunteers give the couple rides, they know they need to remain with Robert in the waiting room and reassure him that his wife will be returning soon. Because their situation requires extra care, our volunteer coordinator, Margie, does her best to assign our more experienced volunteers to drive the couple. Staff is concerned not just about Robert's continued decline, but also the strain on Shirley as she ages and takes care of him. While no volunteer is solely assigned to them, their regular drivers have come to know them quite well, and we rely on their monthly reports to do our best to monitor their situation. Robert and Shirley have been clients with Faith in Action for six years. In this time, Faith in Action volunteers have spent more than 530 hours driving the couple 6112 miles to medical appointments. For more information, see: Faith in Action - Supporting Senior Independence