Podcast

153: Getting to grips with the crisis of care with Emily Kenway

Emily Kenway is the author of the groundbreaking book, “Who Cares: the Hidden Crisis of Caregiving and How We Solve It”, written after the painful experience of caring for her cancer stricken mother. Who Cares is an intimate and deeply researched account of the experiences of unpaid carers, and a call for us all to put care at the center of our lives. Emily researches, writes and speaks about thought-provoking social issues, shedding light on the crucial forces shaping our lives and communities.

We talk about:

  • How Emily found the strength to write such a book out of her own deep grief
  • Emily’s personal experience with caregiving
  • The importance of recognizing care as a continuous condition of life
  • The need for more practical support for carers 
  • Reducing the stigma surrounding care work
  • How older people can refuse outside help due to vulnerability concerns
  • How women are often expected to prioritize care work over paid work
  • Disparities in labor rights and opportunities between men and women
  • Gender roles in caregiving for elderly relatives
  • Age, vulnerability, and acceptance of care
  • How practising reciprocal support can help create a culture that values vulnerability and mutual aid
  • The care commons idea – sharing care responsibilities in a community 
  • The need for government action on workplace regulations to enable care
  • Reducing working hours to improve productivity and work-life balance

And more!

Emily’s website: emilykenway.com

Twitter | Instagram

Emily’s book: Who Cares: the Hidden Crisis of Caregiving and How We Solve It

Why not explore more…

Caring for older parents with Liz O’Donnell

Liz O’Donnell is the founder of Working Daughter, a community supporting people caring for loved ones and especially older parents.

Providing For Your Aging Parents And Yourself

A look at how you can best support your aging parents while also making sure that you’re in good shape too.

Caring for a loved one with dementia with Carolyn Birrell

Carolyn Birrell shares her own journey navigating her mother’s path into dementia, so that others may be better prepared.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave a review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening.  Thank you!

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Podcast

143: Caring for older parents with Liz O’Donnell

Liz O’Donnell

Liz O’Donnell is the founder of Working Daughter, a global community for women balancing eldercare and career. She’s the award-winning author of Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Earning A Living, which is a brilliant book. She’s a longtime marketing executive who’s become a recognized expert on caregiving and in 2020, she created National Working Daughter’s Day.

We talk about:

  • Why Liz wrote the book, Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Earning A Living
  • The importance of moving from resentment to acceptance
  • The power of unconditional love and showing up
  • Why Liz focused on daughters in her book
  • Why it’s helpful to look forward to the time when you’re no longer caring (even though that means your parents are not there anymore)
  • Flexibility and the cost of being flexible
  • How the Covid-19 pandemic put everything in perspective
  • Living through the caregiving
  • How workplaces can help carers
  • The expectation that it will always be the daughter
  • Judging your actions not your thoughts
  • Finding alternative solutions to a difficult situation

And more!

Liz’s website: workingdaughter.com

Liz’s: Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

Working Daughter: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Liz’s books: Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Making a Living and Mogul, Mom, & Maid: The Balancing Act of the Modern Woman

Other resources mentioned:

Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End

You may also like this podcast: Caring for a loved one with dementia with Carolyn Birrell. Carolyn shares her own journey navigating her mother’s path into dementia, so that others may be better prepared.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave a review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening.  Thank you!

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Podcast

125: Caring for a loved one with dementia with Carolyn Birrell

Carolyn Birrell

Carolyn Birrell is the author of Walking with Fay, a moving book about her mother’s uncharted path into dementia. Carolyn’s writing began as a way to help her make sense of what was happening and quickly turned into the book she herself had needed, to provide relatable caregiving help. It’s a beautiful, empowering book and I really loved it.

We talk about:

  • What led Carolyn to write such a personal and difficult book
  • Why it took so long to realize how bad things had got with her mother
  • The process of learning her mother had dementia and the early signs
  • Working out what level of interference in her mother’s affairs was appropriate
  • Coming to terms with realizing more help with caregiving was required
  • The kind of support that was needed and how Carolyn found that both for her mother and herself
  • Coping with a lack of recognition from her mother
  • The impact of the global pandemic on her mother’s care
  • What readers can expect from the book
  • Carolyn’s advice for people who fear they are starting to see signs of a parent’s dementia
  • Learning what to say and what not to say to a person with dementia
  • What makes the book different from other memoirs
  • What Carolyn hopes readers will get from the book
  • Carolyn’s advice for anyone just beginning on this path with their loved one

And more!

Find more about Carolyn:

Carolyn’s website: carolynbirrell.com

Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook

Carolyn’s book: Walking with Fay: My Mother’s Uncharted Path into Dementia

Walking with Fay: My Mother's Uncharted Path into Dementia

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and maybe leave a review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening.

Find out how to leave a review here.

Carolyn Birrell
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coping with dementia
Podcast

60: Coping with dementia with Feyi Raimi-Abraham

Feyi Raimi-Abraham

An interview with Feyi Raimi-Abraham, founder of a fabulous new company called The Black Dementia Company, set up during lockdown and inspired into creation by caring for her mother who has dementia.

We talk about:

• Why Feyi felt there was a need for this company
• How lockdown accelerated that need
• What she hopes to achieve with the company
• What it’s like caring for her mother
• When she first noticed signs of dementia in her mother
• How the dementia progressed
• How Feyi adapted to being her mother’s full time carer
• Adjusting to her mother as a new person having been a strong, very active and independent woman in her past
• The impact on Feyi’s wider family
• The systems and tools she’s put in place to support her mum
• Advice for people who suspect there may be an issue with their loved one and especially their parent
• How can family best support the person diagnosed with dementia
• Getting rid of the stigma of dementia
• Looking out for signs of dementia
• Simple tests that can be done to check for dementia
• What Feyi has learnt about herself from becoming her mother’s carer
• What Feyi would like listeners to know about dementia

And more!

Find more about Feyi:

The Black Dementia Company

Instagram and Twitter

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave a review
on iTunes or wherever you’re listening.  Thank you!

Find out how to leave a review here.

 

 

 

 

Feyi Raimi-Abraham

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