Every day it seems scientists discover more ways in which loneliness can attack our bodies and...
Category: For Friends & Family
Real world advice for how to support the caregiver in your life.
Thoughts While Cleaning The Living Room: Domestic work is undervalued – but it doesn’t need to be
Why does anyone ever question the value of “women’s work”? Why don’t we honor it and the people...
When New Yorkers Report A Mental Health Crisis, Who Should Respond?
Local headlines in recent years have highlighted how a 911 call for assistance with someone...
Gear shifting: busting BS bromides
As a caregiver there were several of these Pablumesque pieces of supposed advice, which caused me...
Professional Practice: Universal Design
If we want everyone to participate in public life, we must design and build an inclusive public...
Home health care aides often face verbal abuse from clients
For many home healthcare aides, verbal abuse from clients or clients’ family is a real problem, a...
What I learned after 20 years of chronic illness
Since I’d initially feared I might have cancer, these diagnoses were initially a great relief to...
Ghost networks of psychiatrists make money for insurance companies but hinder patients’ access to care
I started calling a list of psychiatrists who supposedly took my insurance. Some of them were...
Preparing My Family for Life Without Me
I wanted to create a sense of stability while my children, then 8 and 11, were still innocent...
Navigating the transformation from loved one to caregiver
[I]n the twenty-first century, becoming a caregiver is a transformation that comes at us because...
Showing your support after a friend experiences loss
How do you show that you care when a friend’s grieving the loss of a loved one? I share thoughtful ways to demonstrate support, regardless of distance and budget, from our community of current and former family caregivers.
A Grief Casserole: How to help your friends & family through loss
Schutt spent four years as her mom’s primary caregiver, writing songs about the dark and the light...
What to say (and what not to say) to someone who’s grieving
Empathy Deficit Disorder (not a real condition, but maybe it should be) has reached epidemic...
No, My Disability Doesn’t Make Me ‘Undateable’
I’ve been struggling with this whole romance thing for the last decade. Honestly, who hasn't? But...
6 things I want you to know about our interabled relationship
Many people have never seen a relationship like ours before, where one individual lives with a...
Growing Together
Donna Thompson and Zachary White have been busy working on their upcoming book, due out in June,...
12 Gift Ideas for the Caregivers in Your Life
Caregivers don’t get to go holiday parties or even celebrate with family and friends, but that’s...
Rethinking Language about Aging
Words matter. The words we choose convey how a person is valued and whether that person is seen...
Well-Intentioned Dragons
In 2014, I married my love, Rebekah. I was 35 and she, 25. Seven months later, my dad was...
LGBTQ seniors fear renewed discrimination in long-term care
When deteriorating health forced David McClure, who is 81, to enter first one Ottawa nursing home,...
You are not your meat suit
Describing seniors as "cute" is demeaning. When you're designing for a cute little old lady,...
When you’re about to say someone is an inspiration
On the rare occasions I get out and talk to someone who isn't a blood relative or a health care...
Spousal Caregiver Job Description
Position Summary: The Caregiver cares for the patient’s medical, physical, emotional, spiritual,...
Dementia and How It Can Affect Your Family
Watching a parent or loved one slowly succumb to dementia is painful and emotional. It often...