Vision - mission
VISION: Empowering families to become proactive caregivers ready to meet the needs of aging relatives to ensure a safe, socially engaging and inclusive old age
MISSION: Help families develop skills and the confidence to step in as caregivers in order to meet the physical, social and emotional needs of aging relatives
intro to services
Help My Aging Parents provides a wide range of services:
Help My Aging Parents primarily serves to educate, empower and support older adults and their families, as well as caregiver employees, on eldercare planning and caregiver training. This is done through three approaches:
- In person presentations and webinars
- Individual / Family consults
- Caregiver Support groups
Help My Aging Parents also provides support to older adults and families around loss of a loved one which is provided through individual or group settings:
- Navigating Grief
Help My Aging Parents also engages with seniors in the community and residential settings through various discussion groups. Currently, the two discussions groups are:
- Thriving While Aging
- Solo Agers
Help My Aging Parents also trains professionals who serve older adults and families. This can be done through a two part training:
- Practical Guide to working with Older Adults & Families
- Emotional Guide to working with Older Adults & Families
Expertise
Julie Norstrand, PhD, MSW, MSc
Julie Norstrand brings 20 years of clinical, academic, and community experience in gerontology to families and organizations navigating the challenges of aging. She holds a PhD in Social Work with a specialization in Gerontology from Boston College, an MSW from Boston College, and an MSc in Clinical Psychology from M.C.P. Hahnemann.
Her work has spanned both the personal and the systemic sides of aging. She has conducted psychosocial assessments of older adults in inpatient settings, helped community members launch peer-led caregiver support groups, and worked directly with an Area Agency on Aging — gaining firsthand knowledge of the services and resources that keep homebound elders safe and connected. Her doctoral research, funded by a John A. Hartford Foundation fellowship, examined the link between community connectedness and health among older adults, work that continues to shape her approach to helping families build the social and practical support their aging relatives need.
Julie has taught graduate-level courses on aging, health, and human behavior at Boston College, Regis College, and Lasell University, and her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including The Gerontologist and the Journal of Aging Research. She remains active in the field as a current Council Member of the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Community Collaborative Elder Council and as a vendor for KGA's Employee Assistance Program, and has previously served on the boards of the Massachusetts Gerontology Association and the Newton Senior Center Council on Aging.
Julie founded Help My Aging Parents to bring this depth of clinical and academic expertise directly to the people who need it most: families trying to figure out how to step into a caregiving role, and the employers who support those families through the everyday strain of caregiving. Her approach is grounded in both rigorous research and a deeply personal conviction — that older adults deserve a meaningful, connected, and safe place to grow old, and that families have both the capacity and the responsibility to help make that possible.