CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson +1 303-810-1816

Email:   Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado – July 3, 2021

The Caring Generation® What to Do When You Can No Longer Care for Elderly parents

       Golden CO- Caregiver subject matter expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation® podcast show for caregivers and aging adults. This coming Wednesday, July 7, 2021, Wilson offers tips for caregivers to move forward in prioritizing their needs, health, and well-being over care situations that can be self-destructive.

Wilson releases a new show for The Caring Generation series every Wednesday. Featured are tips and conversations about aging, caregiving, family relationships, and health. In addition, listeners receive information that can help plan for the future and avoid many common caregiving traps. The Caring Generation is available on Wilson's website and all major podcast and music apps.

Family Gatherings Around the Holidays

Family gatherings around the holidays can bring out the best and worst in families. What happens to those caring for elderly parents when the family does not visit or call on the holiday? Caregiver isolation and depression are common for primary caregivers who receive little or no family support.

While others enjoy the holiday, traveling, and living what appears to be an idyllic life, the primary caregiver remains within the confines of a home with an elderly parent who needs a high level of care. Many caregivers persist in caring for elderly parents at home until the end of life. Unfortunately, giving up careers, friends, social activities, and even marriages results in significant physical and mental health declines that result in the caregiver becoming the person who needs care.

The Caregiving Time Warp

Weeks, months, and years pass while caregivers feel stuck in a time warp. Hesitant to make changes for fear of abandoning elderly parents who need care, caregivers ignore their needs by focusing on the needs of elderly parents. Family and cultural beliefs impact feelings of duty and obligation.

Requests for help from brothers and sisters—who prioritize their lives and well-being—fall on deaf ears and anger the caregiver who is doing all of the work. Is caregiving a choice? Can caregivers become so enmeshed in care responsibilities that they fail to see the short and long-term effects on their lives, health, and future? Is becoming a caregiver with an ongoing need or desire to help others addictive?

Making Unpopular Caregiving Decisions

On this program, Wilson offers steps for caregivers who realize they can no longer be the only caregiver for an elderly parent. Caregivers stuck in a pattern of being constantly available can find it challenging to step back and begin doing things for themselves.

For example, caregivers living with an elderly parent may be hesitant to seek a job and move out of the home to return to an independent lifestyle. Likewise, researching care options to reduce time spent in caregiving may feel intimidating when the path forward is to tell an elderly parent that the situation must change. Fear of confrontation or conflict often keeps caregivers locked in untenable situations for years.

Guest Dr. Ingrid Bacon Mental Health Therapist, Researcher and Educator

According to Dr. Ingrid Bacon, caregiving relationships can progress to situations of co-dependency where caregivers lose their identities—being a caregiver is all they know.  Wilson and Dr. Bacon discuss the foundations of co-dependency and what family caregivers can do to regain their sense of identity and move forward in their lives.

Ingrid Bacon is a mental health therapist, researcher, and educator. She has more than 20 years of experience working in mental health practice in the UK, South America, and Africa. Bacon is also a Senior Lecturer in Mental Health at Kingston and St George's University of London and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapy, British Psychological Society, and the International Society of Schema Therapy.

Ingrid obtained her Ph.D. at Brunel University London, with the thesis entitled: An exploration of the lived experience of co-dependency through interpretative phenomenological analysis. The Ph.D. research study made a recognized and original contribution to a field of co-dependency, with national and international impact. 

Wilson works with family caregivers, groups, and corporations worldwide to educate about the role strain that caregivers experience, managing, and planning for health and aging issues. More about Wilson's online courses for elderly care, individual elder care consultations, caregiver support, webinars, and speaking engagements are on her website www.pameladwilson.com. Pamela may also be contacted at +1 303-810-1816 or through the Contact Me page on her website.

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