Caring for a loving and grateful aging parent can be overwhelming at times. So, imagine what it’s...
Category: Caregiving Relationships
Taking on care work responsibilities change all of our relationships, not only the relationship with the person we’re providing care for. Care work pushes us to re-prioritize our relationships, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever.
I wrote about high-priced drugs for years. Then my toddler needed one.
Anakinra is expensive — on average, private health plans pay about $4,000 a month for it — so we...
For Workers, Hospitals Have Become the New Steel Mills — Minus the Strong Unions
How did it come to be that health care is the largest sector of employment in the United States?...
Can I Refuse to Care for an Elderly Parent?
Caring for our parents as they age seems like the obvious way to repay them. Yet, some people ask:...
The Dangers of Caregiver Martyr Syndrome
Do people act as if you're choosing to do all that you do? And choosing to have no time for...
The Silent Epidemic Affecting Generation Z
as of 2020, more than one in six Americans was actively responsible for the daily needs and...
For family caregivers, cost of unpaid care work is both personal and professional
Helen Ries was in her forties when her father died in 2011, and then her mother in 2014, a turn of...
The Switzerland schedule
“Your mother,” he told us, “has multiple sclerosis.” Whatever that was. I carried on with my day...
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...
‘We can’t even get basic care done’
Becoming a healthcare assistant (HCA) was a straightforward process. It consisted of several...
The Island of Misfit Toys
This year, I have a Christmas baby. David was born in July, but he is the size of a newborn yet....
How to Care For Your Friend Having Gender Affirming Surgery
There are many surgery prep documents out there that focus on the physical and material aspects of...
‘Nobody knows what’s wrong with me’ – life with an undiagnosed condition
Every year thousands of children are born with serious yet unexplained health issues. With no...
Space to Breathe
I am so good at clearing my son’s airway that I am like Sam-I-Am in Green Eggs and Ham. I can...
Who Will Care for ‘Kinless’ Seniors?
When her sister died three years ago, Ms. Ingersoll joined the ranks of older Americans considered...
My wife got cancer and I couldn’t fix it. Finally I learned that’s not what’s required
After that night, it was clear that while I was taking care of certain tasks, I had no idea how to...
The Sunset
When I was 19, a nursing home hired me to work as an aide. There wasn’t much to the interview that...
Walkthrough of UHC’s Claim Reimbursement Form Game
I’ve always loved the puzzle genre of video games. Starting with the Infocomm text adventures of...
How to Rescue a Grieving Friend
Before my father’s decline, he was a preeminent scholar of Black religious history. As brilliant...
Sharing Duties as a Family Caregiver Is Like Losing a Security Blanket
"My husband is a remarkable caregiver. He knows how to talk to ER doctors and advocate for Ladybug...
What It’s Like Coming Out To My Grandmother—Over And Over Again
When Nonna’s memory fails her, she returns to familiar gestures. On a weekend afternoon in winter...
When a child’s medical care becomes a parent’s pain
Parents of children with complex medical problems have higher rates of anxiety and depression. A...
On #dementia TikTok, family caregivers find support and bring the disease to light
"My mom was taking care of her mom, who had Alzheimer's, [and] not telling anybody how hard it was...
Am I Obligated to Look After My Insufferable Mother?
My mother has an undiagnosed mental illness that makes her incapable of accepting reality and that...