"Suffering from compassion fatigue does not mean you’re bad at helping or caring, it only means...
Category: Caregiver Stories
Caregivers tell their story in their own words: the good, the bad, the complicated.
As she nursed her mom through cancer and dementia, a tense relationship began to heal
In March 2020, Lori traveled to Florida to help Audrey move into an assisted living facility, a...
Weighing Risks of a Major Surgery: 7 Questions Older Americans Should Ask Their Surgeon
Older adults contemplating major surgery often aren’t sure whether to proceed. In many cases,...
Many nursing homes are poorly staffed. How do they get away with it?
A USA TODAY investigation has documented, for the first time, how rarely the federal government...
Endgame: How the Visionary Hospice Movement Became a For-Profit Hustle
Half of all Americans now die in hospice care. Easy money and a lack of regulation transformed a...
Cost of Living- Tales of Care Giving
This afternoon, I saw an off-Broadway play called Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok. It is a...
Widow’s Peak
She said she had something to tell me but that she was afraid. I reached for her trembling hand,...
Staying in touch off of Facebook
The Caregiver Space Facebook account has received numerous violation notices, accusing us of lying...
In ‘Corsicana,’ Will Arbery Puts Art, Family and Down Syndrome Onstage
Arbery, who grew up in Dallas with seven sisters in a conservative Catholic milieu similar to that...
We undervalue caregivers because we don’t value the people who need care
We undervalue both caregivers and care providers because we don’t value the people who need care....
On Disability and Bondage
In 2014, I suffered a horrendous roller derby injury hurting my coccyx and dislocating both hips...
Caring for Her Dad Exposes Blended Family Caregiving Conflicts
While the book is replete with many humorous Conway family stories, such as her dad introducing...
Chronic Disease, Your Healthy Spouse, and Sex
Marriage is hard for everyone, but it can be even harder when one person has a chronic condition....
The Invisible Front Line: Caregiving Spouses during Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has especially disrupted the lives of people living with chronic illnesses...
The weight of caring at home
"I wrote/drew this opinion piece for the LA Times two years ago, right before COVID drastically...
I feel guilty for checking my mother into long-term care against her will
For close to two hours, my mom had stubbornly resisted our cajoling, pleading and arguing as we...
The Care Crisis Isn’t What You Think
On a recent visit with research participants for my book on spousal caregiving, I sat with a man...
Photographer aims to capture strength of young caregivers
Growing up with a mother who had schizophrenia, Max Alexander had first-hand experience as a young...
Costa Ricans Live Longer Than Us. What’s the Secret?
Even in countries with robust universal health care, public health is usually an add-on; the vast...
A Mother’s Steely Portraits of Her Daughter’s Life with Down Syndrome
For as long as Grevenitis can remember, being in public with Lulu has brought about a less welcome...
For years, I feared that I’d outlive my daughter. And then science did something amazing.
After her diagnosis, my daughter’s daily routine was daunting. She took more than a dozen...
A Marriage Stressed by Obsessions and Compulsions
As soon as we learned a new baby was on the way, Mike’s anxiety became more than an occasional...
Making Your Workplace Safe for Grief
Grief doesn’t just come with sadness and loss. Grief can also come fully-loaded with guilt, anger,...
The health care crucible
When industrial employment dominated the nation’s economy, such worlds were formed around the...