I'm not a caregiver.
Family caregiving has become a predictable crisis. Americans are living longer and longer but dying slower and slower.
There are only four kinds of people in the world - those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.
In 2009, I served as AARP's Ambassador of Caregiving. With a producer and cameraman, I traveled the country for months, interviewing hundreds of caregivers.
Greater public recognition will also be critical in encouraging prevention and early intervention, and more generally in building public support to meet the challenges of dementia.
Having been a caregiver more times than I care to count, 'StandWith' lets caregivers and patients easily update their community and post targeted tasks that community members can accept.
StandWith has two main functions: first, updates which allows the caregiver to send out patient updates to their community in a simple way that eliminated dozens of texts, emails and calls. The second is tasks. A caregiver can request a task to be fulfilled and their community can self-select which they complete based off their abilities and means.
What mothers need, as well as fathers, spouses, and the children of aging parents, is an entire national infrastructure of care, every bit as important as the physical infrastructure of roads, bridges, tunnels, broadband, parks and public works.
We hope that by sharing my experience - our experience, Lennon and I - that somebody who is going through this process or helping their loved one through it might feel less alone, and might even have some better information for their cancer care.
The Alzheimer's Association in the United States, founded by Jerome Stone, they found me because they had heard rumours that my mom was diagnosed. Jerry said, 'We're a small family group, and we would like to know if you'd like to join us and to spread the word about this disease.' I said, 'Absolutely.'
I wanted people to hear directly from me that I have been diagnosed with ALS.
I think the best thing I ever did with my life was stand up and say I've got Alzheimer's.
I know what's it's like to grow up with ADHD and how important it is for parents, caregivers and patients, to have access to accurate information.
My grandmother, Nina Eaton, founded United Cerebral Palsy. At the time that my father was born with it, there were no resources for people with the condition. So my grandmother and grandfather, who lived in Brooklyn, tried to reach out for some type of resource or support, and people just told them to institutionalize my father.
You can have a very bad end with Parkinson's, but on the other hand, you can be like me, because I'm lucky. I'm not having a bad end.
