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Saturday, May. 10, 2008

Web sites help in difficult times

More patients, concerned friends turn to computer to stay in touch

It's great to have friends when you are sick. But it's not so great for the phone to ring all day long when you feel lousy.

As a friend, you want to help, but don't know how. Call? Drop off a casserole? Send a card?

In stressful times, caregivers must figure out how to share information with lots of people and friends must figure out how best to help without being invasive. One possible solution: Check the internet.

Web sites are available to offer those in need a manageable and convenient way to communicate with those who want to help.

A local beneficiary of this type of Web site is Robert Baker, senior minister at Calvary Baptist Church. Several weeks ago, while Baker underwent open heart surgery, his son-in-law set up a site at CaringBridge.org.

Baker's wife Debbie said that the Web site ”helped us relay information to many caring people who were sincerely concerned. But it also allowed Bob the rest he needed because it helped limit phone calls.“

Debbie Baker adds that messages posted to her husband were ”instrumental in helping to keep his attitude positive during a difficult time.“ Now Robert Baker is recovering at home and posting his own updates.

When Second Presbyterian Church's former minister David Renwick had surgery and was recovering, he also had a Web site on CaringBridge.org. Renwick, who now lives in Spartanburg, S.C., could keep family, friends and parishioners updated across many miles.

Church administrative assistant Cindy Riley recalled that church members ”loved it. It gave us the ability to communicate with the family without disturbing David with phone calls.“

Web sites like CaringBridge.org, CarePages.com, and similar sites grew from a most basic need: communication.

In June 1997, the founder and executive director of CaringBridge.org, Sona Mehring, had a good friend with a difficult pregnancy. In response to Mehring's offer of help, the friend asked Mehring to keep everyone informed. Mehring tried phone trees and e-mailing, but it was too difficult to keep it up.

With Mehring's background in technology, she set up the first CaringBridge.org Web site. Though the friend's baby was delivered at 24 weeks and later died, the Web site was so effective, Mehring's family and friends urged her to set-up sites for other families in crisis.

Since that time, CaringBridge.org has the third-highest traffic among non-profit sites, and the highest traffic among non-profits that do not require membership.

According to Chris Moquist, marketing and communications director for CaringBridge.org, it has connected more than 20 million friends and family members in a year.

Moquist said the site is ”all about communication, love and support in the most critical time in their lives. ... We are accountable to the families we serve. Everything we do has been requested by the families that we serve. We don't report to a board of directors. We have no stock price. We exist to support and serve these families.“

Roughly half of the CaringBridge.org sites are set up for children or pediatric patients. Also among the sites are cancer patients, transplant candidates, victims of serious accidents, soldiers returned from war and brain injury patients.

When local attorney Timothy Wills suffered a stroke on October 29, 2007, the Willses used a Web site to communicate with their large family and many friends.

Tim's wife, Becky explained: ”CaringBridge was a great way for me to communicate what was going on with Tim's health as well as prayer requests and other needs that we had.“