Being a caregiver for someone with dementia can be overwhelming. Not only do caregivers suffer the emotional pain of losing the person they’re caring for in bits and pieces, but they also frequently face a seemingly never-ending stream of stresses, including the physical strain of caregiving, family conflicts, complex medical decisions, and massive financial burden. Unfortunately, family caregivers are too often overlooked. They can feel alone, like no one understands what they’re going through. On ‘About Health,’ we often interview medical professionals. But, in this episode, we take a slightly different perspective, because although this issue involves many medical aspects, it’s also extremely personal. So, we explore the dementia caregiver’s journey through the lens of poetry. Our guest is the co-editor of a new book of poems written by a variety of poets about their journeys of caregiving for someone with dementia. We discuss why poetry is such a vital medium for capturing their experiences, we hear their poems, and we talk about about the challenges of caregiving for someone with a chronic illness. Host David B. Feldman speaks with Margaret Stawowy, award-winning poet and co-editor of the new book, Storms of the Inland Sea: Poems of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregiving.
