The Caregiving experience is stressful for the patient as well as the caregiver. Whenever possible it is good to negotiate the changes in roles and responsibilities that occur. Both the patient and the caregiver need to work on evolving the relationship in ways that work for both parties and meet the medical goals.
Sandra Boris-Berkowitz,introduces us to Laughing Yoga. For years we have heard that Laughter is the Best Medicine. A doctor in India founded a movement of Laughter Yoga which has spread to more than 60 countries. Got nothing to laugh about? You can get the same benefits from faking it. “Fake it until you make it.”
Joyce talks with June Wilcox, her mother, and Judy Powell, a social worker, about making the transition from marriage and caregiving to living on your own. People who have been a caregiver for many years go through a jarring transition when their spouse dies — they essentially lose their job, and sometimes with it their compass, their direction in life. June talks about making this transition at 92 after 68 years of marriage, and coming through it in a healthy way.
Viki Kind, a medical ethicist and hospice volunteer who specializes in medical ethics, talks with Joyce about her book, The Caregiver’s Path To Compassionate Decision Making: Making Choices For Those Who Can’t (Home Nursing Caring). Over 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimers, and many more have lost or will lose their ability to decide through strokes, brain injuries, mental illness and developmental disabilities. One in four people will need someone else to decide for them as they face the end of their life. Many are now making or will be in the future making decisions for a loved one, or need that service ourselves.
Read More
Listen
Listen
Listen
