LinkedIn recently announced a new feature: the “career break.” Users can choose from 13 different types of time away from paid work, such as bereavement, career transition, caregiving, full-time parenting, a gap year, or travel. It is a big step forward. But I want more. I want caregivers to be recognized as essential members of a health […]
caregivers
Lessons learned about hospice care
A loved one recently went over the cancer waterfall and I dove in after him, keeping his head above water long enough to say goodbye to everyone. It was an intense four weeks of caregiving – two in the hospital and two at home, in hospice. I am sharing one segment of our story to […]
Elegy for A. and M.
I grew up rich in cousins. I spent holidays with my first cousins and lived, starting at age 11, in the same town with second cousins (the children of my mother’s first cousin) AND a first cousin twice removed (my grandmother’s first cousin – each generation that separates us is the “removed” part). Don’t worry, […]
Peer-to-peer advice for caregivers
Longtime readers of my blog know that I’m a caregiver. I helped care for my grandparents and my father until the end of their lives and I’m currently caring for an “uncle” (he is my cousin’s widower, but it’s easier to just tell people I’m his niece). I’m also obsessed with amplifying the lessons we […]
Public Q&A: Peer advice during a pandemic
A community colleague wrote: Our neighborhood list serve has all sorts of ‘advice’. I’ll spare you:) Are you able to assess how peer-to-peer exchange is playing out with all of this? In the spirit of Public Q&A, I invite readers to join me in responding: Yes. I’m seeing a ton of peer-to-peer exchanges of information, […]
Project management for caregivers
I am a caregiver. I help coordinate the health and home care for an elder loved one who, for the purposes of maintaining a bit of anonymity, I will call “M.” He is a healthy, happy octogenarian. We have known each other for nearly 40 years, but we are not related by blood. I am […]
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