The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver
The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver

The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver

Regular price $36.00 $24.25 Sale

Author: Thomson, Donna

Brand: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Binding: Hardcover

Number Of Pages: 256

Release Date: 08-06-2019

Details: Product Description With a foreword by Judy Woodruff, The Unexpected Journey of Caring is a practical guide to finding personal meaning in the 21 st century care experience. Personal transformation is usually an experience we actively seek out—not one that hunts us down. Becoming a caregiver is one transformation that comes at us, requiring us to rethink everything we once knew. Everything changes—responsibilities, beliefs, hopes, expectations, and relationships. Caregiving is not just a role reserved for “saints”—eventually, everyone is drafted into the caregiver role. It’s not a role people medically train for; it’s a new type of relationship initiated by a loved one’s need for care. And it’s a role that cannot be quarantined to home because it infuses all aspects of our lives. Caregivers today find themselves in need of a crash course in new and unfamiliar skills. They must not only care for a loved one, but also access hidden community resources, collaborate with medical professionals, craft new narratives consistent with the changing nature of their care role, coordinate care with family, seek information and peer support using a variety of digital platforms, and negotiate social support—all while attempting to manage conflicts between work, life, and relationship roles. The moments that mark us in the transition from loved one to caregiver matter because if we don’t make sense of how we are being transformed, we risk undervaluing our care experiences, denying our evolving beliefs, becoming trapped by other’s misunderstandings, and feeling underappreciated, burned out, and overwhelmed. Informed by original caregiver research and proven advocacy strategies, this book speaks to caregiving as it unfolds, in all of its confusion, chaos, and messiness. Readers won’t find well-intentioned clichés or care stereotypes in this book. There are no promises to help caregivers return to a life they knew before caregiving. No, this book greets caregivers where they are in their journey—new or chronic—not where others expect (or want) them to be. Review Caregivers often sacrifice their own health and relationships to take care of loved ones, which is a big problem in the United States, where nearly 45 million Americans provide unpaid care to an adult or child with medical problems or chronic conditions. The authors, caregiving bloggers, recommend online forums and Facebook groups as wonderful sources of support at 3 a.m., and note that libraries offer book groups, talks, and film screenings. They authors share their own stories: one quit her job and left her husband and daughter to move in with her mom, who had early-onset Alzheimer’s. Another found her son’s care needs increase after his severe cerebral palsy caused his right hip to dislocate. This guide is best when it provides statistics (10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, and 70 percent of them will need long-term care for an average of three years) and advice (what tasks could someone else do?). PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff, whose older son needs help with “almost all activities of daily living,” provides a foreword recognizing the nation’s “silent army” of caregivers. (Booklist)The book describes the inherent challenges impacting caregivers. The chapters are organized into two phases. The first phase focuses on how caregiver life expectations are reshaped and remolded through initial disorientation and role change. The second phase provides an algorithm for reorientation and advocacy. Thomson and White provide a realistic, well-described process of the caregiving journey. They address repatterned thinking that develops, as unraveling threads of past expectations for the future become contrasted against present reality. The authors address the trespass of societal and cultural boundaries with the need for human understanding. The book authentically prepares caregivers for the quest of normalcy and life balance while addressing a myriad of challenges, including p

Package Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches

Languages: English