Happy Healthy Caregiver

Carlos Olivas III is a California native who is a three time caregiver. He currently cares for his dad who is living with Alzheimer’s and provides support to his adult daughter and his brother who have mental health concerns. Carlos is archiving and documenting his Dad’s dementia progression through his vast assortment of art In this episode, Carlos and I chat about how work can sometimes feel like respite, what his typical day looks like, how impactful Miguel’s story in the hit TV show This is Us was, self-care routines, and we list out a variety of support options for family caregivers. Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod143 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Sheila Welch is a dementia family advocate and educator. For over 12 years, Sheila has been the Developer/Coordinator of Loving Through Dementia: a free, all volunteer ministry that offers help, hope, inspiration and dementia education to families facing dementia; and provides resources and guidance for churches of all faiths, all communities, and all individuals who seek to better serve these families. Sheila's family has lost eight family members to Alzheimer's. Her husband, who has led this ministry with her for over twelve years, was diagnosed a year and a half ago with Parkinson's dementia. Her own family’s journey, along with the journeys of the families she serves inspire her work today. In this episode, we chat about loving someone through dementia, setting yourself up for a successful caregiving journey, how a faith community ministry could be started in your area, and how to give yourself grace. Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod142 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Caregiving happens. My upcoming guest needed to reschedule – dad in hospital. Family always comes first. I’m not as batched up with episodes as I’d like and the show must go on with a new episode every other Wednesday. So like caregiving, I pivot and haven’t done a show on this topic before. In today’s show, I’m sharing strategies to help the family caregiver that is or feels like they are all alone in their caregiving season. Bottom line is – being a solo caregiver isn’t sustainable. I have yet to hear a solo caregiving success story. Typically the health (and happiness) of the family caregiver suffers when trying to control all the aspects of caregiving plus the other family, household and career responsibilities. Likely your plate was already full. Then heaped on caregiving responsibilities. May have seemed doable at first or you just love this family member or chosen family member so much that you wanted to do whatever it takes. Perhaps you realize this isn’t sustainable but you are in too deep. Today I’m offering strategies to consider. Small changes add up. I believe in you. If you want to work through this together 1:1 – take me on the offer for complimentary coaching or perhaps work with me on an ongoing coaching basis. Schedule your complimentary session today! Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod141 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Aisha Adkins is an only child caring for her parents. Her mom has Frontal Temporal Dementia, and her dad has suffered multiple strokes. Aisha’s career is the Constituency Organizer for Caring Across Generations. She is a storyteller, advocate, international speaker, and passionate about building an equitable, inclusive, and comprehensive public health and care infrastructure. She enjoys classic film, live music, and the great outdoors when she is not trying to affect positive systemic change. In this episode, we talk about the nuances of being a young caregiver and only child, small yet impactful care advocacy steps can we take, community care, acceptance, managing expectations, and sipping tea. Enjoy the show! Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod140 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Meet my son Jacob at age 20. Jacob was eight when our caregiving season started. He’s witnessed a lot during his adolescent and young adult years…we reflect on this, share family memories. and talk about how caregiving may have influenced his life.  We also talk about how he coped with isolation during the pandemic, how he manages school stress, his plans for this summer, and why he decided to delete the TikTok app from his phone. Enjoy the show! Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod139 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Meet Kimberly Whiter who is on a mission to guide families to a more financially-positive caregiving and aging experience. With her unique and personalized process, families gain multiple professional perspectives and can make a plan for saving time and money for overcoming the challenges of elder care.   In this episode we talk about changing careers while caregiving, finding financially positive ways to survive the caregiving season, and the challenges of running our caregiving business (and what office supplies we adore!). Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod138 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Meet Amanda Clark who cared for her late husband Joe after he was diagnosed at age 28 with colon cancer. This diagnosis came two months before their wedding. Blogging helped she and her husband through this journey until Joe passed in 2014. After Joe’s death, their joint blog became Amanda’s non-profit called Cocktails & Caregivers. In this episode Amanda talks about what it was like to care for her fiancé and husband while working and raising their daughter, she shares how counseling and girlfriends helped her during her deep days of grief as a widow, what life looks like now 7 years later, and how her non-profit Cocktails and Caregivers can help lift a caregiver’s day. Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod137 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Meet Jennifer and Ellen the force behind Yoga4Caregivers – a social impact business that aims to expand access to holistic wellness services to caregivers. Jennifer is the founder of Yoga4Caregivers and Ellen is the Program Manager and Volunteer Yoga Teacher.  In this episode with Ellen and Jennifer we talk about busting stress, infusing minutes of self-care in your day, and how you can access free online yoga classes. Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod136 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Meet former family caregiver Debbie Howard. Debbie lived and worked in Japan for 30+ years. Debbie is also a former caregiver on a mission to change the way the world looks at caregiving so the impacts are not so devastating. Her work focuses on providing companies with support programs for employee caregivers to mitigate the related risks of absentee-ism, employee turnover, and extra healthcare costs. In this episode, we dive into this topic and we also chat about how caregiving was a transformational experience for Debbie, how she shared the care with her sisters while keeping her own business running, the concept of joy journaling, and how simple steps can have ripple effect on lasting change. Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod135 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW

Meet Patti Lafleur who says she has the amazing opportunity to be the care partner for her Mom, Linda, who has dementia and type 1 diabetes. Patti was a Kindergarten teacher for 9 years before quitting her job to care for her mom full time. People truly enjoy watching Patti and Linda’s life through social media and this keeps Patti connected, too. Patti’s goal in sharing our story is to change the stigma around a dementia diagnosis and share their daily joy! In this episode we talk about traveling with your loved one, leaving the workforce to care, activities you and your care recipient can do together, Amazon wish lists, caregiver respite, making a hospice decision, and how to find the joy in your caregiving journey.  Please note that this episode was recorded before the recent passing of Patti’s mom, Linda. Please keep Patti and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Show notes with product and resource links: https://bit.ly/HHCPod134 Receive the podcast in your email here: http://bit.ly/2G4qvBv Order a copy of Elizabeth's book Just for You: a Daily Self Care Journal: http://bit.ly/HHCjournal For podcast sponsorship opportunities contact Elizabeth: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/contact-us/ The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast is part of the Whole Care Network. Rate and Review the podcast: https://bit.ly/HHCPODREVIEW