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

Email:   Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado – October 13, 2021

The Caring Generation® What's Good About Being a Caregiver?

Golden CO- Caregiver subject matter expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts Episode 107 of The Caring Generation® podcast show for caregivers and aging adults. Today, October 13, 2021, Wilson shares the blessings, disappointments, challenges, and lessons learned from the experience of caring for aging parents and loved ones.

Guest Dr. Andrea B Maier shares research about longevity, she is Oon Chiew Seng Professor in Medicine, Healthy Ageing and Dementia Research, Co-Director at Centre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System, National University of Singapore.

Maier, an international expert on aging and longevity, joins Wilson to answer questions that include why do we feel younger or older than our actual age. How does overall health affect aging? What should we know about the link between chronic disease and aging, and how can we age and be in better health? 

Being a Caregiver is a Life-Long Journey

Whether you are a family caregiver, an individual interested in a health care career, or already working in the caring field, opportunities to learn to present themselves each day. The role of a caregiver can begin with having a baby and raising children. In time, caring activities can extend to caring for aging parents, grandparents, siblings, or a spouse.

Because the role of caregiver can repeat several times in a lifetime, this episode of The Caring Generation focuses on four areas to answer "what's good about being a caregiver?" Wilson discusses 1) the joys and the best things about being a caregiver, 2) the opportunity to learn through interactions with others, 3) the effects, risks, and disadvantages of being a caregiver, and 4) finally, finding a work-life-caregiving-you-balance.

Personal Experience Frame The Actions of Caregivers and Aging Adults

Caregivers struggle because of reliance on limited personal experience or having unrecognized biases that prevent information seeking or problem-solving. Older adults experience similar gaps in identifying the source of problems that result in more significant restrictions and fewer choices about daily activities and care.

For example, an older adult falls and experiences a minor injury. Instead of investigating the cause of the fall and resolving the problem, a parent believes that limiting physical activity to reduce the likelihood of another fall that could have more severe consequences is the best course of action.

Unknown to a parent, the consequences of limiting physical activity result in more widespread issues. Mom or dad become physically weaker, lose muscle strength, sit in a chair all day, experience reduced appetite, lose weight, current health issues worsen, and translates into an eventual diagnosis of failure to thrive.

Family caregivers unaware of the fall issue—purposely not mentioned by elderly parents—may not see significant changes in mom or dad until they visit, which may not occur regularly. In addition, once identified, the effort to investigate and identify the problem may take months.

Due to the passage of time, parents may be unwilling or unable to make the necessary changes to reverse the health concerns—that might have been resolved if identified immediately. Hard choices to place a parent in a nursing home or begin hospice care may be the only course of action. These are some of the challenges of being a caregiver. 

Learn More About Andrea B. Maier, Who Shares Research About Longevity and Aging

Andrea Maier, a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP), graduated in Medicine (MD) 2003 from the University of Lübeck (Germany), was registered 2009 in The Netherlands as Specialist in Internal Medicine-Geriatrics and was appointed Full Professor of Gerontology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands) in 2013. She was the head of Geriatrics at the Vrije Universiteit Medical Center from 2012 to 2016.

From 2016 to early 2021, Professor Maier served as Divisional Director of Medicine and Community Care at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia, and as Professor of Medicine and Aged Care at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She continues her career at the National University of Singapore as Co-Director of the Centre for Healthy Longevity.

Professor Maier's research focuses on unraveling the mechanisms of ageing and age-related diseases. During the last ten years, she has conducted multiple international observational studies and intervention trials and has published more than 330 peer-reviewed articles spearheading the significant contributions of her highly acclaimed innovative, global, multidisciplinary @Age research group. She currently is the President of The Australian and New Zealand Society for Sarcopenia and Frailty Research.

Wilson supports family caregivers, groups, and corporations worldwide by offering education for caregivers about managing, planning, and navigating health and aging issues. More about Wilson's online courses for elderly care, individual elder care consultations, caregiver support, webinars, speaking engagements, and brand collaborations 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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