What We Offer
Aging Specific Resources
We mirror HHCI by offering education, training, supportive services, and research; all geared toward the physical, mental, spiritual, and relational health of community members aged 65 and older and their families.
Care for the Caregivers
We provide a unique continuum of services for caregivers as they navigate the health and human service needs of loved ones living with dementia – from diagnosis to end-of-life.
Guidance and Support
We focus on providing support for those experiencing loss and grief. Our health care ethics committee also provides guidance to families confronted with chronic illnesses and complex treatment options.
To help individuals and families to address questions regarding health care planning for serious or terminal illnesses, we offer a Community Healthcare Ethics Consultation Service (CHECS).
Medical care continues to become more complex, and it is sometimes difficult to understand different care plan options, especially when facing a serious illness. What would you do if you were asked to make a treatment decision for someone who is not able to speak for themselves?
If you are in the hospital, there are many resources, including the ethics committee or ethics consultation service. If your loved one is not in the hospital, it may be difficult to understand the available care plans. In response, we offer CHECS to serve as a resource for people facing serious illnesses or caregivers.
If you or your loved one needs help in considering the ethical aspects of health care plans, please contact us. Our health care ethics committee consists of more than twenty people from various walks of life, including doctors, nurses, clergy/chaplains, social workers, and lay persons. Representatives from the committee will meet with you, your family members, and other members of your support system to consider the information that you have been given. The services we provide are strictly advisory – you and your family will still make all health care decisions, but with additional insights, it may make this process easier for you.
Education regarding healthcare ethics is available to clergy, medical professionals, and community members. Contact us today to learn more.
We offer informational and educational programming throughout the year focusing on general aging issues such as healthcare, legal, living, and financial, as well as specific concerns such as advance care planning, caregiving, and mental decline. View calendar.
We offer support groups and individual coaching on both aging and grief issues. Contact us today to learn more.
- Monthly Grief Support Groups
We offer two virtual grief support group meetings twice a month. Meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month and every 4th Wednesday of the month (3rd Wednesdays in November and December). - Monthly General Caregiver Support Group
We offer a virtual general caregiver support group meeting once a month. Meets every 2nd Friday of the month.
Currently, several research projects addressing doctor/patient communication, community dialogues, and nurse empowerment are in place or being considered. Contact us today to learn more.
Session Reports
- GAIN and GCPAAA Final Report – Mental Health 03-28-2016
- St. Vincent’s and GICRAC Final Report – Mental Health 03-28-2016
- LULAC Final Report – PCOR and CER 12-31-2015
- GICRAC Final Report – PCOR and CER 12-31-2015
- GAIN and GCPAAA Final Report – PCOR and CER 03-27-2014
- St. Vincent’s House Final Report – PCOR and CER 03-25-2014
Publications
For additional information, contact:
Dr. Peggy L. Determeyer
McGee Fellow and Director,
C.A.R.E.S. pdetermeyer@hhci.org
(346) 335-8623
Articles
- Determeyer PL, Crowder JW, O’Mahony E, Esquivel B, Atwal H, Atwal PS, Rogers SL, “Application of the community dialogues method to identify ethical values and priorities related to pharmacogenomics” in Pharmacogenomics, May 2021.
- Determeyer, Peggy L., and Julie E. Kutac. “Touching the Spirit: Re-Enchanting the Person in the Body.” Journal of Religion and Health 57, no. 5 (2018): 1679-89.
- Co-author with Jerome Crowder, “Optimizing Community Bioethics Dialogues: Engaging the Populace with Health Care Concerns.” Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics 9, no. 3 (2019).
Book Chapters
- Determeyer, Peggy L. and Howard Brody, “Medical Futility: Content in the Context of Care” in Palliative Care and Ethics, edited by Timothy E. Quill and Franklin G. Miller. Oxford University Press. 2014.
- Determeyer, Peggy L., and Jerome Crowder. “Community Dialogues” in Social Research Methods. Oxford Press, September 2019.
- Co-Author with Jerome Crowder and Sara Rogers, “Technology is Wonderful Until It Isn’t”: Community- Based Research and the Precarity of Digital Infrastructure in The Routledge Companion to Media Anthropology, edited by Elisabetta Costa, Patricia G. Lange, Nell Haynes and Jolynna Sinanan. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group. 2023.
