Caregiving Advice

  For months now, I’ve been planning a dear friend’s bridal shower. This weekend, we finally got the chance to celebrate—safely!—with a drive-thru-style event. And let me tell you: planning a special party while caregiving is no simple feat! Even though my whole family shares the responsibility of caring for my grandmother, there are times when I have a lot to do—but I’m the only one available to stay with her. Though stressful at times, planning the shower helped me reflect on ways to include my grandmother in as many of my daily activities as possible—and that doing so was mutually beneficial! The experience also made me think about family involvement as a whole. To include my grandmother meant that I had to make intentional decisions—even if they were inconvenient in the moment. Instead of working at the dining room table and going in to check on her every few minutes, I moved all of my supplies to her bedroom and sat next to her while I worked. Then, instead of just working nex...

  Caregiving is a universally shared experience that touches people of all ages: across gender, race, ability, orientation, culture, geography, and faith. But how caregivers of color experience caregiving—navigating health care, accessing services, making daily decisions, and more—looks completely different. To better understand these differences, we will: lean in to the caregivers of color we know and love seek ways to embrace and elevate caregivers of color expand our community to represent all caregivers & caregiving stories Beyond #blackouttuesday, we’re committed to inclusivity and diversity in all of our Caregiving Advice conversations, connections, and content. Our team will have ongoing discussions about how this looks, with input and collaboration from our entire community. This commitment to serving ALL caregivers through resources that represent ALL caregivers? It’s not just for this week or month. It’s part of our resource hub’s lifetime strategy, and we’ll keep lea...

  A self-proclaimed “Jean of all trades,” Latia has a career background in film, journalism, behavior therapy, education, and assistive technology. She’s been a caregiver for most of her life, and she’s an artist who’s always up for a new project or challenge. We can’t wait to share her perspectives on creativity and the blogs about caregiving life! Get to know her better here. What’s one of your favorite activities that might surprise people? There are so many activities I’m always getting into, but the one that surprises people the most is roller derby. I love roller derby because it has given me the courage to be who I am and to expand my creativity. It helped me break out of my quiet shell—as I’m a mixture of both introvert and extrovert. Give us a snapshot of your caregiving experiences/story. I have been a caregiver pretty much all my life in many different capacities. My parents divorced when I was 13 years old, and as the oldest, I had to help care for my brother and siste...

  Every Monday on social media we post a new   #Car egivingH ack —i.e. a creative approach to a daily caregiving task. Here, we’ve collected the latest  blogs about caregiving  tips and tricks millennial caregiver Eliza has learned while caring for her grandmother AJ, who has dementia. Tip #1: Give them creative freedom. Something simple that I often forget about is the creative freedom of dressing yourself. Being able to go through your closet to pick an outfit, then accessorizing to match. This is something my grandmother has loved doing her entire life. Her outfits were always fully conceptualized and gorgeously coordinated. That slowly went away as her independence waned, and now, unless we’re intentional about it, she is dressed without any say in what goes on her body. But of course this takes time and energy that we don’t always have, and mornings are often busy, busy. So whenever it’s a special occasion or we’re having company over, we try to take the time to...

Why we need supporting caregivers just as much as the primary ones. Today’s reflections post is by our newest team member,  Latia Johnson , who is our digital content creator & caregiving tech specialist. Latia helps care for her sister, who has multiple sclerosis. Sometimes more than one caregiver is caring for someone at the same time. But that doesn’t make one role more important than the other: it takes a village, and  all  contributions are valuable. Typically though, there’s one caregiver who’s the point person—often known as the primary caregiver. They’re the one who takes the person to doctors’ appointments, handles the finances, makes calls, runs errands, and more read about best blogs for caregivers . But in some households, there are caregivers in a supporting role. They may cook the meals, clean the house, and set up the next day for the primary caregiver. In my household, my mother is the primary caregiver for my sister, who has multiple sclerosis (MS). M...

  Last summer, we kicked off our very first “ABCs of Caregiving” campaign on social media and also provide the best caregiving advice and guide .It was so popular we’ve brought it back and we love hearing all of your feedback and the ways each letter and lesson resonate with you. Here, we’ve compiled the caregiving lessons from letters A through F of our social media campaign, the  #abcsofcaregiving —in case you missed them, or to share them with someone who’d be encouraged by them. A is for Adaptive Being a caregiver means that your job is constantly changing, and to thrive, you’ll be constantly changing your approach as well! From year-to-year changes…like going on hospice, month-to-month changes…like losing the ability to walk or even stand on her own, to hourly changes…like sun-downing, my grandmother’s abilities, moods, needs, and desires are constantly shifting. And if I’m not adapting, I’m not going to be able to keep up and provide her with the best care possible. The ...