Donna Thomson is the author of The Four Walls of My Freedom: Lessons I've Learned From a Life of Caregiving. She is a consultant and speaker on issues relating to family caregiving, disability and aging. Donna is a patient and family advisor on health research and policy and she teaches family caregivers in Canada how to advocate for care in hospital and in the community. She blogs regularly at THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM ([...]

Zachary White, PhD, is an award winning university professor who teaches undergraduate and graduate courses addressing topics such as provider-patient communication, caregiver communication, the patient experience, health and illness narratives, digital health literacy, social support and disclosure, and sense making amidst life transitions. As the founder of the caregiver blog and resource "The Unprepared Caregiver" ([...] his original writing voice mixes first-hand experiences, communication expertise, and cultural analysis featuring a care-centered point of view.

Foreword by Judy Woodruff

Introduction

Chapter 1:I'm (Not) a Caregiver

Disorientation: From Loved One to Caregiver

Chapter 2:Living In-Between Scripts (Transformational Moment #1)

Chapter 3:A Hyper-Intolerance of Others (Transformational Moment #2)

Chapter 4:Audience Betrayal (Transformational Moment #3)

Chapter 5:Who am I Becoming and Why am I So Hard on Myself? (Transformational Moment #4)

Chapter 6:When "Getting Through" isn't Good Enough (Transformational Moment #5)

Re-orientation and Advocacy

Chapter 7:Making Meaning That Matters Now

Chapter 8:Begin With the Basics: What Is My Role at Home, What Do I WANT It to Be?

Chapter 9:You Are Not Alone, But Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Chapter 10:Navigating the Rough Waters of Transition

Chapter 11:Not a Social Network, But a Care Network

Chapter 12:How to Know What You Want and Get What You Need

Chapter 13:Power and Love = Empowerment

Chapter 14:Cultivating Connection

Conclusion:A New Way of Seeing and Being