More than half of Americans take four or more medications a day. That number increases to at least seven when we add over-the-counter medications. All of these have side effects and interactions. Today my guest is DeLon Canterbury, Founder of Geriatrix.org who hopes to revolutionize the way we look at medications by educating the public on deprescribing. In this episode, we discuss the importance of knowing the medications your care partners are taking, what he considers dangerous drugs, the most over prescribed drugs and how to discuss deprescribing with your care partners physician. SHOW NOTES
Dementia. While we know it’s a progressive, neurodevelopmental condition with over 200 types, there are still many questions of why and how it occurs. My guest, Mitchell Clionsky, PhD is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist with 45 years of experience evaluating and treating patients with cognitive impairment, dementia, ADHD, and traumatic brain injury. Dr Clionsky, along with his wife and partner Dr Emily Clionsky have treated more than 25,000 patients with cognitive impairment. They have taken their experience and research and combined it with the most current scientific findings about to create their new book, Dementia Prevention, Using your head to save your brain a practical guide that empowers you to improve your brain's future. We cover a lot of topics today - our genes, common health issues, sleep, hearing, our habits, and the lifestyle changes we can make to support ourselves. SHOW NOTES BRAINDOC.COM
Dr Allison Applebaum is an Associate Attending Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and also the Founding Director of their Caregivers Clinic the first of its kind in any Comprehensive Cancer Center in the US. Dr Applebaum amplifies the voices of family caregivers in her scientific journals, editorials and her research which focuses on developing innovative ways to identify, prepare and support caregivers. Through this work she also addresses the distress experienced as a result of increasing responsibilities. In Allison's new book, Stand By Me A Guide to Navigating Modern, Meaningful Caregiving. She brings not only her professional experience to the subject, but also her personal journey of caring for her beloved father, Stanley Applebaum. In our conversation today, we discuss her book, the experience of living in the in between as a family caregiver, and how caregivers can find meaning and purpose while juggling the responsibilities and emotional ups and downs. Allisonapplebaum.com Book - Stand By Me - A Guide to Navigating Modern, Meaningful Caregiving SHOW NOTES
Today my guest is Barbara Karnes, an Award Winning Nurse and End of Life Educator. She was NHPCO (The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) Hospice Innovator Award Winner of 2018 & the 2015 International Humanitarian Woman of the Year. Barbara has put her 40 years of experience regarding education, care, and support of dying people and their loved ones into numerous books and resources. One book in particular Gone From My Sight: The Dying Experience, published in 1985, has sold over 35 million copies world wide. Known in the hospice world as “the little blue book” it is the most beloved and widely used resource of its kind. All of her booklets are essential resources in navigating end of life care. Today we discuss how to prepare ourselves and our care partners including how to chose the right hospice, what happens with food and other physical and emotional issues at end of life and how we can be prepared and present as caregivers for those final moments. SHOW NOTES Bkbooks.com
No matter the reason you enter a hospital, it's intimidating, and the process is not self-explanatory. Each step from admission to discharge to rehab to home is fraught with managing communication and decisions. My guest Dianne Savastano can help. Diane is founder and principal of Health Assist a Massachusetts based company founded in 2004 that specializes in helping clients navigate the complexities of the healthcare system. Beginning as a registered nurse providing direct patient care, Dianne's 25-year career includes roles as a hospital insurance and employee benefits executive. In our conversation today, Dianne will share how to prepare yourself for navigating a hospital trip the tools you need the questions to ask throughout the entire process, and how to make yourself part of the care team from beginning to end. SHOW NOTES
In today's Bonus policy episode, Howard Gleckman joins Anne in discussing policy changes in 2023. Howard is a published author and writer whose professional expertise is founded on long-term care, health care, elder care, tax policy, budget policy and economics. Howard was also a senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Business Week. In our episode today, we discuss some of the major policy happenings in 2023 - the GUIDE program, CMS staffing standards, the decision to cover Leqembi and more. SHOW NOTES Howard Gleckman.com
Connie Baher is a writer and speaker on caregiving and re-imagining retirement. Her latest book is Family Caregivers: An Emotional Survival Guide. Published in USA Today, The New York Times Magazine, Forbes, and The Boston Globe, she is also the author of "The Case of the Kickass Retirement." She is a Harvard MBA, an entrepreneur, and a former tech executive. Connie is A frequent contributor to Next Avenue and I had the pleasure of being a part of her article When the Caregiving Ends: Recovering from Loss, Rebuilding Your Life. Today Connie and I discuss life after caregiving - The variety of emotions to wade through, dealing with others while you’re grieving, that inevitable question of now what do I do and so much more. SHOW NOTES www.conniebaher.com Connie’s Book Family Caregivers: An Emotional Survival Guide. Next Avenue Article “When the Caregiving Ends: Recovering from Loss, Rebuilding Your Life” Life Planning Network: https://lifeplanningnetwork.org/. Their mission statement: "The premier networking and professional development organization for life planners working with people over 50."
The challenge of caring through a broken healthcare system is something every caregiver lives through. My guests today, Daughterhood Founder Anne Tumlinson and Daughterhood Interim CEO Andrea Cohen know those challenges personally and professionally. Today we discuss their personal experiences as caregivers, what drives them to create change, the importance of being able to find practical resources and support - and how Daughterhood can help. SHOW NOTES
Courtney Hogenson is a registered nurse, entrepreneur, and innovator with over a decade of experience in the healthcare industry. As a certified care manager and a legal nurse consultant, Courtney has extensive expertise in elder care and patient advocacy and has served as a primary liaison and medical advisor for patients and families. Courtney is the founder and chief caregiver of Call-Light, an on-demand healthcare platform that connects care seekers with trusted nurses and clinicians for in-home healthcare anytime, anywhere. Today, Courtney shares ways caregivers can provide care in the home, the importance of creating a care team, and strategies and pitfalls along the way. SHOW NOTES
David C. Grabowski, PhD, is a professor of health care policy in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. His research examines the economics of aging with a particular interest in the areas of long-term care and post-acute care. From 2017-2023 Dr. Grabowski was a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which is an independent agency established to advise the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. He joins Daughterhood Founder Anne Tumlinson and I in discussing how policy affects nursing home quality, the fragmentation of payments in the LTC system, staffing requirements, accountability and how to advocate for change. SHOW NOTES
Dr. Kalisha Bonds Johnson is an Assistant Professor on the Tenure track at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her BSN, MSN and PhD in nursing and specializes as a Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. In 2019, she earned her Ph.D. from Oregon health and science university where her studies focused on how the caregiving experiences of African American dementia pairs (i.e. , African American persons living with dementia and their African American family caregivers) were associated with their quality of life. In our conversation today we discuss her past and current research regarding African American dementia caregivers and their care partners, the challenges of accessing needed services, the disparity in healthcare, and the important need for support. SHOW NOTES
As a senior living expert, Star Bradbury has helped thousands of families make educated and informed decisions as they navigate the world of senior living and senior healthcare. Based on her 25 years of real-world experience, Star’s book, Successfully Navigating Your Parents’ Senior Years, offers a comprehensive guide that walks families through developing a flexible proactive plan that focuses on keeping loved ones independent for as long as possible no matter their age. In our conversation Star shares examples of How to talk to resistant parents who will not discuss their condition or their future plans, making those plans, aging in place, differences between life care communities, assisted living and skilled nursing and how to decipher it all. CLICK HERE FOR SHOW NOTES
Sue Ryan has been in roles of family caregiving for more than 40 years. Her mission is to empower individuals to maximize and accept the potential opportunities that change will bring. As Sue shares, We’re continuously in transitions – the process of going from where we are to what’s next in our lives. Whether we’re choosing the change – or the change is happening to us – intentionally navigating transitions in each area of our life means changing from ending up somewhere we may not want to be to waking up feeling confident and secure, knowing what we want and how to achieve it. In this episode, we discuss recognizing what is, giving ourselves permission, how to access our strengths, how our unconscious thoughts add to our patterns and how Massive Acceptance and Radical Presence are the keys to ultimate freedom. SHOW NOTES SueRyan.Solutions
Today Anne and Rosanne are joined by Karen Kavanaugh senior director, Strategic Initiatives at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers. She leads the development and launch of the institute’s initiatives designed to expand supports to strengthen caregiver health, resilience, and wellbeing. Her portfolio includes Working While Caring, and initiatives designed to deepen the research on effective workplace supports for caregivers and to expand access to those supports. She is also leading RCI’s caregiving typology and bereavement initiatives. We discuss the challenges that affect caregiving employees, employer viewpoints and ideas and policy changes that can help. SHOW NOTES
Marty Stevens-Heebner is the Founder & CEO of Clear Home Solutions and an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and podcast host. She is also the President of NASMM (the National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers), with certifications in Senior and Specialty Move Management, Professional Organizing, and Aging in Place. Clear Home Solutions was the first nationally accredited firm in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. She was also the first Certified Senior Move Manager in the country. Today we discuss all aspects of moving, organizing, sorting, how to navigate a hoarding situation, moving someone with dementia, the process of where to start when it comes to moving and taking care of yourself along the way. SHOW NOTES and resources mentioned.
Palliative care - the often misunderstood, under utilized, yet empowering option in medicine. Today my guest is Dr Caitlin Barron an internal medicine physician specializing in palliative care at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington and co-founder and chief medical director of EpioneMD. She also serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Her clinical interests include palliative care in oncology and population community-based palliative care. Above all else, Dr Baran feels privileged to care for patients faced with serious illness, ideally working to help them live as well as possible. Today we discuss the confusion over palliative care, helpful questions to ask your care partner and their providers, and how palliative care can empower caregivers and their care partners. SHOW NOTES EpioneMD.com
Barry Jacobs is a clinical psychologist, medical educator and writer fostering the well-being of families coping with serious and chronic medical illnesses. Barry is the author of The Emotional survival Guide for Caregivers and co-authored with his wife Julia L Mayer, AARP Meditations for Caregivers and AARP Love and Meaning after 50. Since 2013 he has been a blogger on family caregiving and relationships for AARP.org. In today’s podcast, Barry and I discuss the challenges of caregiving with siblings. He offers strategies on dealing with those who don’t or won’t help, the micromanagers, how past family dynamics play a part in the sibling friction, animosity and how to continue on after caregiving ends. SHOW NOTES Loveandmeaning.com
This is a bonus episode of Daughterhood The Podcast. At Daughterhood, we hear your challenges in navigating the healthcare system and how it can be both frustrating and disheartening. In each of these bonus episodes, I have the pleasure of speaking with Daughterhood Founder Anne Tumlinson where we will bring the caregiving conversation to a different level with change leaders and policy experts. Today with speak with Dr. Joanne Lynn. A geriatrician, hospice physician, health services researcher, quality improvement advisor, and policy advocate who has Published over 300 peer-reviewed medical research and policy articles. Our conversation covers the looming crisis, the unpredictability of care, the necessity of change in policy regarding long-term care, how older Americans are viewed, and strategies all of us can use to change policy. SHOW NOTES Dr Joanne Lynn Daughterhood
Cynthia Hayes is a former freelance journalist, management consultant, marketing executive, executive trainer and cancer survivor. Cynthia used her 30 years of experience in interviewing, synthesizing information and telling a story to write The Big Ordeal Understanding and Managing the Psychological Turmoil of Cancer. Her research for the book included interviews with patients, caregivers, oncologists, psychologists, neuroscientists and recovery experts of all kinds. Cynthia and I speak about her book, the emotional response to cancer, the need for open dialog between caregivers and their care partners, the importance of support and the many facets of cancer caregiving. SHOW NOTES The Big Ordeal Cynthia's Website
Lindsay DeLong is a licensed Occupational Therapist with over 10 years of experience working with adults in the home environment. She is the founder of EquipMeOT, with YouTube, TikTok and Instagram channels that house a library of instructional videos as well as product demonstrations and endorsements. Lindsay and I discuss the role occupational therapists can play in home care. She shares tips on what challenges to look for, how to plan for changes that may occur and strategies that can help the caregiver and care partner maximize quality of life. Show Notes for this episode.