The unexpected journey of caring : the transformation from loved one to caregiver / Donna Thomson, Zachary White, PhD ; foreword by Judy Woodruff.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781538122235
- ISBN: 1538122235
- Physical Description: xi, 244 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
- Publisher: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2019]
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-239) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | I'm (not) a caregiver -- Disorientation : from loved one to caregiver -- Living in-between scripts -- A hyper-intolerance of others -- Audience betrayal -- Who am I becoming and why am I so hard on myself? -- When 'getting through' isn't good enough -- Re-orientation and advocacy -- Making meaning that matters now -- Begin with the basics : what is my role at home, what do I want it to be? -- It takes a village : revealing hidden assets in neighborhood -- Navigating the rough waters of transition -- Not a social network, but a care network -- How to know what you want and get what you need -- Power and love = empowerment -- Cultivating connection. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Caregivers > Psychology. Caregivers > Mental health. |
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prince Rupert Library | 362.0425 Thom (Text) | 33294002082477 | Adult Non-Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 June #1
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 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. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - Choice Reviews : Choice Reviews 2019 October
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 painful isolation, emotional exhaustion, and unyielding toxic stress. Personal narratives engage the reader, demonstrating the way in which caregiving misdirects assumptions for the future by fastening caregivers to their present reality. The latter chapters focus on empowerment, adaptation strategies, and strength-building autonomy to leverage against caregiver challenges. Directions for building community sharing provide meaning, hope, and promise to successfully navigate the often invisible lives of caregivers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.
--S. W. Gustafson, Elmira College
Susan Wurzer Gustafson
Elmira College
Susan Wurzer Gustafson Choice Reviews 57:02 October 2019 Copyright 2019 American Library Association. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2019 June #3
Speaker and consultant Thomson (
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.The Four Walls of My Freedom ) and White, associate professor at Queens University in Charlotte, N.C., provide gentle guidance to help readers who are becoming caregivers in this instructive guide. The authors write honestly about the feelings of loss during this transition, including grief over a future that will not happen. They explore the feeling of disorientation during the initial months of caregiving while recognizing how the caregiver's relationships with one's own family and friends can be affected, manifesting commonly in intolerance or disappointment. In their "A New Way of Seeing and Being" that concludes each chapter, they ask readers to optimistically reframe the hardships of caregiving by emphasizing that "our responsibilities and connections highlight how we are rooted and grounded with others." The book includes a variety of practical and tangible actions for the caregiver, including resources and advice on how to navigate both real-life and online support systems, strategies for getting help from one's social network, and advice for contacting medical professionals. Specific tools such as the ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) approach and Atlas CareMaps (as well as specific libraries and community centers) are also included. Any caregiver will find an abundance of assistance here.(June)