SHAREGIVING

David and Rob Stoller speak with David's long-time associate Don McMillan, a trainer in leadership, management and success for corporations, families and individuals.

In the last of three "Day In The Life" Sharegiving installments, examining the evening/nighttime, David and Rob Stoller, of Sharegiver Solutions, present a portrait of life in David's house, where he cares for his wife Barbara, living with early-onset Alzheimer's.

No two days are quite the same, unexpected things happen, and some are difficult. We believe David's experience caring for his wife Barbara     can be very helpful, informative, motivational and comforting.

In this episode of "ShareGiving", David and Rob Stoller examine "A Day In The Life" of a family-member dementia caregiver - that caregiver being David, who has been caring for his wife Barbara, for almost 15 years. This first installment (of three) examines a morning.

After years of study and work with elders and those living with dementia, Lisa Morvillo now owns Happier At Home Care, in Doylestown, PA. She is knowledgeable, compassionate, dedicated, informative and really nice.

David and Rob Stoller, of Sharegiver Solutions, discuss Sharegiving concepts and the state of the caregiving population, of which he has been a part, with Top Doc, stand-up comedian and fervent humanitarian, Dr. John D. Kelly IV (Orthopedic Surgery) of the University of Pennsylvania.

Having previously discussed the first two facets of the Sharegiver Solutions approach to family-member caregiving, today we will discuss the third: Networks. Our three primary networks, of enormous value: Family and friends; trusted professional experts; and the communal Mutual Aid Network. There is information, support and power represented by the almost 20 million family-member dementia caregivers in the US, and we are attempting to galvanize that lobby, and provide access and exchange among all these Sharegivers. 

“Gameplan” - When faced with any challenging situation, and this being perhaps the most challenging, it is imperative to prepare and proceed with a strategy. In this “Share.Giving” podcast, David and Rob Stoller discuss the Sharegiver Solutions daily, weekly, and long-term blueprint for organizing and scheduling shared activities, as well as for time allocation and attention to the Sharegiver’s social and emotional needs.

Perhaps the most critical and over-arching area of the “Sharegivers” focus is that of “Mindset”, from the moment of receiving the Dementia diagnosis through the evolution of the disease along its inevitable course. In this podcast, David and Rob Stoller discuss the Sharegiver’s ”mindset” as developed by David through his many years of being Barbara’s primary caregiver. Beyond simply accepting the wholesale upheaval of one’s life, a Sharegiver’s mindset takes a proactive approach to facing the situation in a positive way (understanding there is no happy ending), determining to be the most effective caregiver one can be, while at the same time paying great attention to one’s own well-being, too often overshadowed by the needs of the Partner, and overlooked by the Sharegiver.

The Sharegiving approach to family-member dementia caregiving focuses primarily on three areas, "Mindset," "Gameplan" and "Networks," designed to enhance to life of the caregiver, who is typically untrained and unprepared. David Stoller, who has cared for his wife Barbara for over 12 years, understands the plight of the family-member dementia caregiver, which often includes excessive loneliness and guilt, as well as physical, emotional, mental and financial stress. In this initial podcast, David and his brother Rob introduce the audience to "Sharegiving", which will ideally provide relief, support, insight and hope to a growing population of family members caring for a loved one living with dementia.