September 2009
The healing power of creative writing
Welcome to Family Care Radio, the internet radio show for New Zealand's community of family carers and those they support at home. In this programme, we get insights into the creative side of carers.
Listen to the whole show
We've split the show into parts so it's faster for you to download. To hear the programme as it's meant to be heard, click on Part 1, then on Part 2 of the monthly show, using the links below. If you don't have an hour to listen to the whole programme, you can choose individual stories to listen to by reading and clicking on the individual the story descriptions further down the page. Enjoy!
Part 1 (42 minutes) Please allow time for the show to buffer and download
Part 2 (24 minutes)
Individual story selection
What's in Part 1:
The inner power of expression
Marylynn Boyes: Assisting creative voices (11 minutes 42 seconds)
Caring has been a way of life for Marylynn Boyes since she began caring for her mentally ill mother at the age of nine. Although she missed a great deal of school, writing became a cathartic outlet for Marylynn over the years, as did creatively painting all over the wall of the family home. Today, Marylynn cares for her sister who has a mental illness, and teaches creative writing classes for carers. She talks to Pip about how writing helps her in her caring role.
Extended interview with Marylynn (16 minutes 09 seconds)
Hear a longer version of the interview with Marylynn than the one that appeared on our radio broadcast
If you would like to organise a creative writing workshop with Marylynn in your area, you can contact her through Carers New Zealand: info@carers.net.nz. Marylynn is running another Nelson workshop on October 10, 2009 -World Mental Health Day. Contact SF Nelson or Carers New Zealand for information.
Poetry gives carers a new perspective
Finding their voice: Sharron Martin and Viv Nelson (5 minutes 32 seconds)
Sharron Martin and Viv Nelson began writing at one of Marylynn Boyes' Nelson workshops. Years later, they still create poetry, often in tandem, while out together walking their dogs. They say the value of the creative writing workshop was first and foremost the experience they shared with other carers and, later, the perspective they gained about their caring role through their writing.
Hear Viv and Sharron introduce and read more poems.
Bedsheet - Viv reads her poem about the reality of the laundry burden when caring (35 seconds)
Winter Word-robe - Sharron's poem about being a closet writer (1 min 20 secs)
All the carers who participated in the creative writing course alongisde Sharron and Viv contributed to a group poem. Hear Sharron and Viv read that poem on behalf of all the workshop attendees:
Collective Preface
A father's quest to understand autism
Interview with David Cohen (14 minutes 35 seconds)
The writing process helped Wellington author David Cohen learn more about, and care better for, his son Eliot. He used his creative talents as a journalist and researcher and travelled the world to gather the information he needed for his book
A Perfect World - a Father's Quest to Understand Autism. He talks to Todd about his experiences.
Caring enough to run (and swim and cycle...)
Grant Hamilton: Caring Ironman (3 minutes 49 secs)
Grant Hamilton's creativity ... and energy ... is directly benefiting New Zealand carers. The Wellington-based chef and Ironman is fundraising for Carers New Zealand after being moved by what he heard about carers' lives and experiences in an interview on National Radio. He spoke to Pip about what he's doing to raise money, and why.
What's In Part 2:
Tomorrow's care today
Carers conference: An organiser's perspective (7 minutes 06 secs)
Like its previous conferences in 2003 and 2006, Carers NZ expects its third National Carers Conference in September 2009 to be a catalyst for social and political change for carers. The first two conferences led to the emergence of the
New Zealand Carers Strategy and Five Year Action Plan; this year, Carers NZ will welcome carers, health professionals, and government officials from across the country to hear about new areas of progress for crers. Carers NZ CEO Laurie Hilsgen discusses key elements of the conference programme, including the opportunity for networking between carers.
Caring and employment: Time for results (1 minute 51 secs)
Work Life Care! conference speaker Carl Stent understands the needs of carers and employers in the workplace. He's studied and observed interactions between employers and carers returning to the workforce, and says with the right attitudes and actions, some extraordinary and rewarding results can be achieved.
Look out for a comprehensive review of key conference topics and issues from the 2009 Conference, held at the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre, in our next Family Care Radio show.
Ask your pharmacist
Managing medications with confidence (7 minutes 7 secs)
In the second of our Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand
Listen and Learn Five Minute Features, Family Care Radio's resident pharmacist, Ann Privet, talks us through ways you can safely organise and dispense medications at home.
Meditation with Anna Filliol
Release (5 minutes 54 seconds)
To get you in the mood for doing something creative, or just to help you get some respite from daily worries and responsibilities, try our latest
Listen and Learn Five Minute Meditation with Anna Filliol. This time, Anna guides you through a lovely visualisation which will help you release burdens and baggage, leaving you feeling soothed and uplifted. Find a quiet and private place, and let go. You deserve it.
In our next show
If you can't attend Carers NZ's conference, we'll bring you the highlights! Listen to some of the key speakers and get feedback from carers who attended the conference. Also in our next show, look out for a new
Physical Wellness with Wayne Halkyard Five Minute Feature, with ideas about how to build fitness while recovering from an injury. We'll also bring you a new
Let's Get Legal Five Minute Feature with the Public Trust's Managing Solicitor, Richard Calvert, this one looking at the benefits of setting up a Discretionary Trust.
Your magazine! It's free.
Have you seen the latest issue of
Family Care? Our quarterly publication for families with health and disability needs is filled with practical ideas, and inspiring stories.
Family Care is free to carers and those they support. Bulk copies are available for organisations to distribute to families in their networks for a koha of just $1 per copy. To learn more phone 0800 777 797, or email sara@carers.net.nz
Our next magazine will be published in November 2009.