Actionable Tips to Support Family Caregivers with Amy Goyer, Author & Family Caregiving Expert
How do we manage it all as a caregiver? As Amy Goyer states, "I can do anything but I can't do everything". With support, we are able to learn, adapt and adjust. Having access to information and tips from other caregivers we are able to fill supported so we can feel successful.
Today we are doing just that. My guest today is Amy Goyer, author of AARP's Juggling Life, Work, and Caregiving. She is a writer, speaker, and consultant specializing in caregiving. Amy is a passionate champion for family caregivers as she merges her personal experience with her professional life. Amy shares her personal caregiving journey along with actionable tips to support family caregivers. She’s been a family caregiver almost her entire adult life. Her role as a caregiver has been varied, from long-distance caregiving to very hands-on care for her parents.
Amy Goyer has also been featured in interviews and appearances by ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, The New York Times, and many more. It was a joy to meet Amy in person as we recorded our episode live at The Care Colloquium in Virginia. This conference brought thought leaders together in the care economy to collaborate and tackle big care issues. It was wonderful to meet so many leaders sharing their good work. Amy Goyer was our keynote speaker and it was a privilege to have the opportunity to interview her. Thank you, Amy, for using your voice to encourage families and bring important conversations to the forefront!
Amy shares about:
Her personal story of caregiving and lessons learned
How we build a supportive team around us is an important asset
Managing the emotions of grief and loss
Bringing awareness to the financial implications of providing care and creating conversation around finances
The importance of journaling in caregiving
Not judging ourselves and the importance of feeling the variety of emotions we have
How we can use the skills we have learned in caregiving and then apply them to our life
Having realistic expectations for yourself
Choosing our mindset that we do have choice and agency in our decisions
How we can proactively create moments of joy
*Amy Goyer is speaking as an independent consultant and not as an AARP representative.
About Amy Goyer
Amy Goyer, author of Juggling Life, Work and Caregiving is a writer, speaker and consultant
specializing in caregiving and family issues. Amy writes widely and has a caregiving YouTube series
in which she has shared her personal caregiving journey along with practical, actionable tips for
family caregivers. A recurring guest on the TODAY show, she is an often quoted and well-recognized
media authority, including interviews and appearances for ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, The New York
Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, The Dr. Phil Show, The
Doctors and numerous other national and state media outlets.
Amy has been an advocate for older adults, children and families for more than 35 years at the local,
state, national and international levels. She started her career as a music therapist and adult day
services administrator, and later joined the Ohio Dept. of Aging staff, serving as field representative,
senior volunteer programs administrator, adult daycare liaison and intergenerational programs
administrator. She then joined the AARP national office, where she headed up their Intergenerational
Program and later the Grandparenting Program, providing support for grandparents in their varying
roles, with an emphasis on grandparent caregivers.
Subsequently, she stepped into her current consulting role. She has consulted for a wide range of
clients, including Johnson & Johnson, Sam’s Club, MetLife, AARP, Generations United, Lifework
Strategies, InsureMyTrip.com, GRAND Magazine, Aloe Care, CareTribe, and Quil Health. She is also
a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS).
A passionate champion for family caregivers, Amy’s work is the perfect fusion of her personal and
professional experiences. She has been a family caregiver her entire adult life. Her caregiving roles
have varied from long-distance caregiving to very intensive “hands-on” care for her parents’ every
need.
At the age of 21 she became a long-distance caregiver for her grandmother, Genevieve, who had
Alzheimer’s disease and her grandfather C.V., as well we her grandmother Clara. Her mother,
Patricia, had a stroke when she was just 63 years old, and Amy and her sisters took on a supporting
and respite role as her father, Robert became her mother’s primary caregiver. When Robert
developed Alzheimer’s disease, Amy moved from Washington, DC to Phoenix in 2009 to care for her
parents, and they (and her Dad’s service dog, Mr. Jackson), moved in with her in 2012.
Her sister, Karen, developed Cushing’s Disease and Amy served as her power of attorney and
helped manage her hospitalizations and follow-up. Patricia passed on in 2013 and Karen in 2014. Mr.
Jackson suffered several chronic health problems and cancer, and he received the same loving care
as any other family member. He passed in the summer of 2017. After living with Alzheimer’s for more
than 12 years, Amy’s father passed on in June of 2018 at the age of 94. Amy has served as executor
of all of their estates.
Learn more about Amy at www.amygoyer.com and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube,
LISTEN NOW: Apple Podcasts, Spotify & on your favorite podcast platform.
We are not medical professionals and are not providing any medical advice. If you have any medical questions, we recommend that you talk with a medical professional of your choice. willGather has taken care in selecting its speakers but the opinions of our speakers are theirs alone. Thank you for your continued interest in our podcasts.
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