It’s Time To Care About Care
When I decided to study Care and Aging, I wasn’t sure where it was going to take me, nor how I’d best be of service.
I wanted to better understand how we learn to care in the first place, how to get better at it, and how to talk about realities that frankly, most people don’t want to even think about. As a caregiver myself, I was living my research firsthand.
The Undeniable Truth
Most of us don’t care about care until we have to. Maybe it’s when we become new parents. Maybe it’s when a parent has a health scare. Maybe it’s when a partner gets a bad diagnosis. Maybe it’s when we are alone and don’t know who to ask for help. Maybe it’s when there is a global pandemic. Experiences of care forever change us.
We can take steps now to ease the burden and uncertainty down the road.
What I Mean by “Care”
Throughout life, we shift roles between caring and caregiving. The main difference is that caregiving implies that one person is dependent upon another in order to perform activities of daily living such as eating or bathing. Caring, on the other hand, is a partnership of mutual cooperation and responsibilities with opportunities to both give and receive care. I focus mainly on non-medical topics of care and informal (family) caregiving that confront adult children with aging parents.
Learn With Me
Each week, I will share my care discovery journey with you as I bring you the most important information you need to care prepare. I will define terms, offer tools and resources, share stories, interview experts, review books and technologies, provide healing recipes, and more.
Together, we will:
- start hard conversations
- complete advance directives
- organize a final wishes folder
- create a care map
- support a friend who is ill, and more
Conclusion
I am your tap on the shoulder. I care about you and the people you love. I want you to up your care game. And I know that if you wait to feel ready to care prepare, it may be too late.
I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter and receive the free Care-Prepared Checklist.
What do you need to know more about? How can I support you? I’m here at ilysse@thrivewell.com.
Please share this post with those you know who would find value in it. Thank you kindly.
