When a friend or loved one has something bad happen to them, what should you do to help them feel...
Category: For Friends & Family
Real world advice for how to support the caregiver in your life.
Ancient Greek Temples Had Ramps For People With Disabilities 2,500 Years Ago
When we live in a world that isn't open to people who can't walk up steps, we're forced to choose...
The Perks of Roommates With a 50-Year Age Difference
From their first conversation, Nellie Goodwin knew that she and Sarah would make great roommates....
He was a Covid-19 patient. She cleaned his hospital room. Their unexpected bond saved his life
This is the situation in every hospital, long before covid-19 caused visitors to be restricted. As...
Struggle for Peace
It’s been quite some time since I’ve written my blog. Part of the reason is that things have been...
5 Things I Wish My Friends Knew About My Life as a Caregiver
It was 2003. I had just turned 16, and that was the summer my mom was diagnosed with ovarian...
How to Help Comfort a Loved One During a Hospital Stay
Follow these tips to make their hospital stay as easy as possible.
Why Black women are aging alone
“Gains in life expectancy don’t mean living more years disease-free,” says Brown, noting that many...
Helping is Making Me Feel Helpless
Have you ever felt helpless trying to help a loved one? We know the stories: the alcoholic...
Is There a Medical Cure for Loneliness?
Every day it seems scientists discover more ways in which loneliness can attack our bodies and...
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...