About This Web Site
Hi there! And thanks for stopping into my home on the Web!
If you’re new to this page, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed
I think it’s nice when you can click on the “About” page and actually learn something about the Webmaster and the website, so here goes…
My name is Maria and I am a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). My goal is to provide family caregivers of older adults with useful information, advice and insights about elder care.
One thing you should know upfront is that this is not the home of “101 things to look for when you’re evaluating an assisted living facility or nursing home”. Plenty of sites offer that kind of information and I wouldn’t waste your time or mine trying to compete.
What I have to offer you is my experience, which has been gained over the better part of the last decade working with chronically and terminally ill older adults and their families. In that time I’ve learned a great deal about the challenges that caregivers face and how to manage them.
One of the most significant things I’ve learned is that “managing” can mean a series of steps designed to bring about a specific outcome, and it can also mean a series of steps out the front door to a quiet area where you take several deep breaths before trying again. The trick is to figure out which is better given the situation.
Caregiving can certainly make it hard to know what to do next when you’re really in the thick of it. Distance, raising kids, work, unhelpful siblings, health issues of your own, lack of resources, or free time, or sleep, can all make caregiving even harder. Sometimes, the only thing that lightens the load is to get some help with your specific challenge or, ironically, to offer up a suggestion to someone who’s stuck in a place you’ve successfully moved past.
Something that I really love about my chosen path to help family caregivers is that it reminds me that we are all in the same boat having a completely unique experience. I know for sure that there are some universal truths about how to navigate through caregiving, but as in life, there are rarely any one-size-fits-all answers. What worked for Jane may not work for Jim at all. But that’s okay, because it means that something else will work for Jim and that something may also help you. It’s all about staying open to the process and continuing to seek out the answers.
So in sum, this is a website for those of you who wake up at 3:00 a.m. with worries and questions that you can’t seem to shake. Try as you may, they just don’t fit neatly into boxes with labels like “Alzheimer’s” or “assisted living” or “Medicare” because they involve your father, whose journey through aging is intricately connected to all three.
If I’m talking to you, then I hope you’ll bookmark this site and invite me and the other readers into your caregiving experience. In return, you have my commitment to share what I’ve learned and to offer you an ear and some feedback when you’re feeling stuck.
I have no idea if you and I will form a connection that is worthy of your time, but I’m hopeful. A quote I heard recently sums up why: “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” I believe that deeply or I wouldn’t be here.
So fix yourself a cup of tea, pull up a chair, and settle in for a few minutes if you can. The door is always open and we have so much to talk about.
_________________
