My journey to my current position as the first Executive Director of Caring from a Distance (CFAD) is similar
to many in the field. Both passion and commitment to help others emerged from
personal experience. In 1986, I wrote a short caregiver handbook called
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR PARENTS: A HANDBOOK FOR ADULT CHILDREN. My aim
was to share with others lessons learned when trying to help our own
parents who lived 150 miles away. Despite the benefits of a great
education, my husband and I were clueless on what to do or how to find
available help when confronted with the many health and coping
challenges they faced. The book was one of the first primers in a young
field. It was updated and revised four times. By the 1997 edition, W.W. was the publisher, and the title had morphed to HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR PARENTS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ELDERCARE. It was adopted as a
resource by over 250 organizations around the country.
As a consultant in the field of eldercare, my prime interest evolved into issues of improving access to information.....Both through telephone directories, and, more recently, through the growing field of information exchange on the internet.
When contacted by the founder of Caring from a Distance and invited
to help launch this new organization, I accepted the challenge and the
great opportunity. The best decision we ever made was choosing the
Network of Care (http://www.networkofcare.org) as our technology
partner.