Sometimes the challenges of caregiving leave little time for caring for yourself. When your loved one’s needs are overwhelming, your needs may feel impossible to address. The time and energy needed to exercise or hang out with a friend or do a favored hobby may seem unavailable and impossible to find. So what can…
The past year has been a challenge, but it has also brought to the fore many helpers, from hospital workers to grocery clerks, who have fought to keep people healthy and fed. For The Kathi Koll Foundation, it has also brought out the givers. Last year, donations increased by more than 65 percent, and…
The holidays can be a time of family, festivity, and fun. For some, they may also create loneliness and money struggles. This year, the pandemic will add a new dimension to the yearly mix of joy and stress. As a caregiver of an ailing loved one, worries about Covid-19 can make even the simplest Thanksgiving…
Last month’s blog on the importance of laughter received such positive feedback that I thought the topic deserved a second look, so here is a deeper exploration of how essential humor is to the caregiver journey. There are few things that are universally true for everyone, but maybe we can all agree that the year…
Laughter truly is the best medicine. When my husband, Don, suffered a massive stroke and became a quadriplegic, I thought I’d never laugh again. A friend told me how important laughter was, and I decided to give it a try. I bought a Robin Williams CD and surprised Don with it. That night, Williams’ irreverent,…
Creativity and caregiving go hand in hand! Invariably caregivers have stories of how they used creativity to overcome problems and enhance the lives of both themselves and their loved ones. For example, one caregiver no longer had time to leave home and meet her friends. So she and her friends devised a new way to…
This has been a year of unpredictability for everyone, but even in normal times, unpredictability is often the constant companion of caregivers.
Health emergencies may strike in the middle of the night, or the evolution of a loved one’s disease might cause new concerns or sudden schedule changes.
This year has been filled with unimaginable difficulties and challenges for all of us, especially caregivers in need. The coronavirus crisis has been life-changing for most families and it has deeply affected family caregivers caring for their loved ones who are most vulnerable.
In the midst of a pandemic, hope can seem hard to find. Anger, frustration, and dismay may seem like easy emotions to slide into, but hope is all around you if you look for it.
The American Cancer Society defines a caregiver as anyone not paid to provide care to a loved one. Whether a spouse, child, parent, sibling or close friend, caregivers sacrifice much of their lives to help someone in need.