EP 6 Are you ready for your caregiving journey? :: Debra Howard
Statistics show that only about 5% of families have taken the necessary steps to develop a fully thought-out care plan for their aging loved ones - it may be your parents, or your grandparents. Or your spouse or partner. Or a favorite aunt or uncle. Or even a close friend. For the vast majority, it takes a “trigger event” (a fall or diagnosis of illness such as cancer, Parkinson’s, dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.) to force everyone to spring into action.
In the best case, the average time for making decisions about assisted living (or in-home help) is 2~3 months, with serious decisions being made under great duress.
AMI founder Debbie Howard's purpose with The Caregiving Journey is to help you to:
Plan and prepare better - and more in advance - so you have more options when the going gets tough
Take better care of yourself while you are caregiving
Inspire your options with “relaunching” once caregiving is done
Debbie made her entrance into the world of non-professional, family caregiving when her mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer at 74 years old. Up to that time, she'd been very healthy and mobile, hadn’t had any need for meds (other than vitamin C or calcium), and had been living independently and enjoying her retirement. Debbie has done quite a bit of work, both during and following her Mom’s passing, on having difficult conversations related to death and dying, and spent countless hours interviewing caregivers at all stages in the journey, and researching the caregiving landscape so that I can offer you a fighting chance at making your caregiving journey the best it can be ... literally, one step at a time.
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts
Find our more about Debra on her website where you can purchase her book,
