Services of Heartfelt Community

Our seniors or those who are in later life stages are more vulnerable to having a lack of healthy touch in their lives. This can lead to isolation and touch deprivation which is also known as skin hunger. This leads to loneliness, fear, isolation, anxiety, depression. Loneliness comes with its own set of problems.

  • Nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated according to the CDC
  • Brigham Young University reports heightened risk of mortality from loneliness is likened to smoking 15 cigarettes a day
  • Lonely people have a 64% increased chance of developing clinical dementia

Heartfelt Community aims to combat these statistics by creating and strengthening community, connecting generations, educating the community on the importance of touch, and volunteering with our elderly community or anyone with an end of life diagnosis.

Compassionate Touch®

Ginger Peer Spencer is licensed to teach through Ageucate™. She is a master trainer of Compassionate Touch®. Compassionate Touch® is a touch technique used to alleviate expressive behavior from those with dementia. The intention is not to go in and manipulate the muscular structure for change like a typical massage but simply touch therapy.

Heartfelt Community goes into the nursing homes to offer Compassionate Touch® which is touch therapy, skin stimulation, human connection, building trust, and more. This service is offered at no cost for those in later life stages.
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Compassionate Massage

A service of HC is caregiver respite massages. Caregivers often carry a heavy load with taking care of aging family members, taking care of their children, career, managing their household and other things. We wish to gift caregivers who could use a break, a respite, with a massage.

Whether you live in the Gloucester, Virginia area or outside of it, reach out to Heartfelt Community. We will work to find a licensed massage therapist in your area for you to receive the respite massage you or someone you know deserves thanks to our donors.

Licensed massage therapists interested in becoming a partner of Heartfelt Community are encouraged to contact us. Let's work together to give family caregivers a respite massage!
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Family & Professional Caregiver Education

Online courses are available for family and professional caregivers. One course is "How to Handle Stress Reactions for People with Dementia" and the other is "Compassionate Touch". Both courses are each one hour long but are broken up into bite sized pieces to accommodate for busy schedules.

The class to become a volunteer for Heartfelt Community takes place on a Sunday of each month. This class goes into the importance of touch as well as practice with hand massages. There is no cost for the volunteer class, however, we do ask for a donation if you're able. After this class, you are welcome to join us to give hand massages at any event we host.
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