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

Email:   Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Denver, Colorado – November 10, 2021

Golden CO- Caregiver subject matter expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts Episode 111 of The Caring Generation® podcast show for caregivers and aging adults. In Honor of National Family Caregiver Month for today's program on November 10, 2021, Wilson talks about how caregiving responsibilities are lifelong, beginning with self-care, children, and progressing to caring for aging parents and spouses.

Guest Dr. Louise Hawkley, from NORC at the University of Chicago, shares research about the health effects of loneliness on isolated caregivers.

Why Caregiving Never Ends

The role of caregiving is often associated with aging adults or frail elderly. However, many fail to realize that caregiving begins with the birth of a child or having the first pet and continues throughout life.  First care for children, then aging parents, then a spouse, and then the caregiver caring for him or herself.

Caregivers learn caregiving skills by doing and many times trial and error. In a perfect world, parents would teach children all of the life skills needed for success. But that's not the way it happens.

Parents are busy earning a living and managing day to day. As a result, there is not enough time to mentor children about fundamental life issues or roles that parents may not have fully learned to navigate themselves. So, everyone in the family keeps learning and connecting the dots as they go along.  

Imperfect Family Caregiving Relationships

As with many roles in life, families don't discuss caregiving. Children may attempt to model the behaviors of parents, not realizing that different situations require different skills.

Because caregiving is all-encompassing, adults are often unprepared. Learning what and who to prioritize between work, spouses, children, and aging parents can be challenging. During this program, Wilson offers practical tips for managing ongoing care responsibilities.

Dr. Louise Hawkley – NORC at the University of Chicago

Dr. Louise Hawkley is a Principal Research Scientist in the Academic Research Centers, NORC at the University of Chicago. She is a co-investigator on the NIA-funded panel study, the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), and the Principal Investigator of the NSHAP COVID supplemental study, which ran from September 2020 to January 2021. Her research contributions are predominantly in perceived social isolation (loneliness) and health during aging, including identifying factors that increase the risk for loneliness and the types of interventions that benefit lonely people.

Hawkley shares research from her article, Loneliness Matters. The physical and mental health consequences of loneliness are discussed, and interventions to reduce loneliness for adults, young or old.

Her publications include more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is a member of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Society on Aging. She serves on the editorial board of Research on Aging and Social Science & Medicine.  In addition, Dr. Hawkley is a founding member of the International Loneliness and Isolation Research Network (ILINK), a member of the Coalition to End Social Isolation & Loneliness, and the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Foundation for Social Connection.

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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