Linda Fodrini-Johnson - The Empowered Caregiver: Practical Advice and Emotional Support for Adult Children of Aging Parents

Praise for The Empowered Caregiver

This book is a treasure trove of practical information addressing virtually every issue that comes up with aging parents. Linda Fodrini-Johnson is among the eldercare professionals whose advice and insights I trust the most.

Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH, Founder of Better Health While Aging and author of When Your Aging Parent Needs Help: A Geriatricians Step-by-Step Guide to Memory Loss, Resistance, Safety Worries, & More

This is an incredible book written by the foremost national expert in geriatric care management. The tangible examples empower tackling some of the biggest challenges in caring for our aging loved ones. This is a must-read.

Matt Neal, MBA, Chief Development Officer, Home Care Assistance

The Empowered Caregiver is an excellent resourcethoughtfully organized to answer the real questions adult children of aging parents have. It gets right to the meat of the problems with kindness and compassion. Chock full of tips, checklists, and resources, Fodrini-Johnsons book expertly guides people through the many emotionally complex issues caregivers face. I plan on using this book as a resource for my clients and in my own relationship with my parents.

Kathryn Schofield, elder law attorney

Linda Fodrini-Johnson has taken her decades of experience in counseling and working with individuals and families who needed care and identified sound, useful, and important advice and actions for children of aging/ill parents. You will be empowered by her insights about difficult conversations; hospitalization preparation and discharge; safety; family-member relationships; caregiver stress, anger, and guilt; end-of-life palliative-and-hospice-care decisions; and many more challenges. This book is equally useful for caregivers of aging/ill loved ones who may not be ones parents. Each chapter has practical advice, suggested questions, and even scripts, and ends with a beautiful affirmation that is an essential self-care tool. Thank you, Linda, for organizing your experience, knowledge, and wisdom, and sharing it with those of us coping with aging loved ones.

Catherine Dodd, PhD, RN, board member of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare; member of the Expert Panel on Aging of the American Academy of Nursing; President Clinton Appointee; former board member of the Zen Hospice Project; former member of the Bay Area Task Force on Palliative Care and End of Life; Vice-Chair Commonweal Board of Directors, Policy Advisor for CA-Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

I highly recommend The Empowered Caregiver to anyone struggling to navigate the difficult journey of caring for an aging parent. This book offers compassionate strategies and emotional support to the caregiver, as well as provides guidance to preserve a loved ones dignity.

Linda Randall, Family Caregiver

The Empowered Caregiver is a must-read for any person caring for a disabled or older adult. The book has great to-do lists, sample scripts on how to start conversations, and wonderful affirmations at the end of each chapter. The author uses practical and effective tips for all types of situations. With or without any knowledge of caring for older adults, one will surely use this guide over and over again.

Mary Lynn Pannen, RN, CCMC, Past President of Aging Life Care Association and Founder of Sound Options, a care management and home care firm

This book is a must-read for anyone navigating the care of an aging family member and all of the emotions that come with itworry, confusion, overwhelm, frustration, and guilt. Linda provides practical tips, sample scripts, and useful checklists that you can incorporate along the way. She will support you in setting limits and finding ways to accept help. With Linda, you are not alone!

Lisa Mayfield, Principal with Aging Wisdom and Past President of the Aging Life Care Association

The Empowered Caregiver is a timely and practical guide. Linda provides bite-sized, simple advice for caregivers that makes the often-complex, daunting task of caregiving less overwhelming and manageable.

Grace Liu, LCSW, Age Well Counseling

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing herein shall constitute legal advice or a solicitation to offer legal advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Published by River Grove Books

Austin, TX

www.rivergrovebooks.com

Copyright 2021 Linda Fodrini-Johnson

All rights reserved.

Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by River Grove Books

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group and Mimi Bark
Cover images used under license from Shutterstock.com/BK666;
Shutterstock.com/yvonnestewarthenderson; Shutterstock.com/Wei xiao

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Print ISBN: 978-1-63299-425-7

eBook ISBN: 978-1-63299-426-4

First Edition

I dedicate this to my entire family, especially my mother Bernice Bidwell, who modeled care to others with an open and accepting heart.

A dult children caring for aging parents cant always find the time to attend a support group or spend hours researching caregiving basics, mental and emotional challenges, and all the necessary information needed to care for their parents. Instead, they need accessible information at their fingertips, quick ideas to solve problems, affirmations to uplift their spirits, and the permission to experience their own feelings.

This book provides useful interventions to reduce family stress and help manage the emotionally difficult situations caregivers face as they tend to elders who eventually decline and need greater assistance. The language used for documents, services, and medical interventions can be confusing, and thus we have provided a Glossary and Resources page at the back of the book. You might want to glance at these pages before you start exploring this guidebook.

A conversation about the what-ifs that come with a longer life is fraught with emotions about life and death, family, and change. Adult children often struggle to initiate this critical first step when caring for their aging parent. Its rarely an easy conversation.