30 something aspiring local celebrity do-gooder. Proud UMKC MPA grad. Caregiver to Barbara

I am an author, speaker and consultant specializing in aging and families, including caregiving, grandparenting and multi-generational issues. I have authored numerous publications, including the books, AARP’s Juggling Work and Caregiving and Things to Do Now That You’re…a Grandparent. I am a recognized media authority, and I’ve been interviewed for TV, online and print media outlets including ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, The Doctors, The New York Times, The Washington Post, People Magazine and numerous state and local newspapers and television stations. I have been an advocate for older adults, children and families for more than 30 years at the local, state, national and international levels. I started my career as a music therapist and adult day services administrator, and later worked at the Ohio Department of Aging before joining AARP, where for 15 years I led the intergenerational and grandparenting programs including the Grandparent Information Center, a leading resource for grandparent caregivers. I now write and consult for a wide range of clients, including AARP, Sam’s Club, MetLife, LifeWorks Strategies, InsureMyTrip.com and GRAND Magazine. I also serve as AARP’s national family and caregiving expert (www.aarp.org/amygoyer) and I’m a columnist and I blog about caregiving news and my personal caregiving experiences blogger for the AARP Take Care blog (http://blog.aarp.org/author/amygoyer/) I have a “Taking Care” (www.aarp.org/takingcare) YouTube web series with actionable tips for caregivers and my vlog (video blog) about my personal caregiving experiences. I am a passionate champion for caregivers of all types, and have been one my entire adult life. A long-distance caregiver for my grandparents starting at the age of 23, I was only 29 Mom had a stroke at the young age of 63. My long distance caregiving grew. In 2009 Mom’s health was becoming more difficult and Dad had developed Alzheimer’s disease, so I picked up my life and relocated from the Washington, DC area to Phoenix, Arizona to care for my parents. I kept my home in the DC area because I travel there frequently for business. My boyfriend of 8 years lives north of Baltimore in Maryland. My parents moved into a senior community for 3 years and I moved into their home just two miles away. But in 2012 they both needed 24-hour care, so I moved them back into the house with me and hired professional caregivers to supplement the care I provided, including my sister Linda, who traveled from Ohio when I was out of town. My sister, Susie, lives in Los Angeles and comes periodically to help. Unfortunately my sister, Karen, developed Cushing’s Disease and for many years I did my best to care for and support her while also caring for my parents. Grief and loss have been an unrelenting part of our journey. My beloved niece, Shaelee, suffered from bi-polar illness, and we lost her to suicide in January of 2012. Mom passed on in October of 2013 and Karen in December 2014. Dad is now 92 and still lives with me, along with Mr. Jackson, his service dog.  Recently my sister, Linda, moved in with us, along with her two sons. We are truly a multigenerational household! I juggle two homes, a long-distance relationship, work and caregiving. It’s a crazy life! I have learned a great deal along the way, and I love caring for my Dad, I love my work and I feel blessed to be able to do both and share my experiences to help others.

In 2013, Aisha Adkins’ life completely changed when her mother was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia. That February, Aisha left her full-time job in healthcare to stay at home with her mom and make sure she was safe. Aisha quickly realized that being a caregiver was more than just “watching” her mom, but when she sought out resources and support, she was left feeling frustrated, disappointed, and alone. After conducting some research (and going through lots of trial and error), Aisha knew something had to change and set out to disrupt the caregiving industry. Inspired by her own caregiving journey of nearly 5 years, Aisha wanted to share what she’d learned with the millions of other millennial caregivers who may feel unseen, unheard, and underserved. 

Cathy Sikorski has been a significant caregiver for the last 20 years. In addition to that, she has been a practicing attorney in her own practice, dealing largely in Elder Law, with over 12 years of education in issues dealing with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. She began her legal career in general practice in a small town where she grew up and was known to a large contingent of the population through her family. Many of her clients were older adults, which lent her practice to dealing with elder issues. During that time, Cathy went on leave to attempt stay-at-home mothering and ended up staying at home and mothering all kinds of people. First, her Nana came to stay. But since then, she has been the primary caregiver for her great aunt for seven years, her amazing mother-in-law until she almost reached 97 years old, currently her brother-in-law who is wheelchair bound and suffers from multiple sclerosis, and a very dear friend who is permanently disabled from an accidental brain injury four years ago. Fortunately, each and every one of these special people has a rockin’ sense of humor during medical appointments, nudity, and other areas of indignity (well, except the great aunt…who didn’t like to laugh). So this caregiving thing, yea, she’s got it covered, and is continuously consulted by everyone she meets about caregiving personally and with her legal background.

I was born and raised in Maine and have enjoyed raising my family and more than one dog here. Nicely surrounded by trees and lakes in the Western Mountains, the area has offered me many opportunities. I went away to college, but chose to come back here to marry and then raise my family.  If you had told me 30 years ago I’d be here in Maine for most of my life, I wouldn’t have believed it. Life has been good and so have been the adventures. I was raised pretty much as an only child. My siblings were much older and went off on their own adventures, while I was still playing hopscotch and jump rope. When I was little my father passed away. After that, it was my mom and I against the world. This partnership taught me tenacity; brilliance under pressure; to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done; and most importantly, resiliency. It led me to follow a life that is always searching for ways to help someone less fortunate. Along my life path, I have experienced food insecurity; bullying on the playground and in the workplace; sexual assault; and have helped more than one loved one on their journey through end of life transition. I know what it takes to keep going when you don’t want to or think you can’t. Some of that experience could have been a whole lot easier or not happened had I known how to stand in my own power. So now it’s my life mission to help people help themselves. Sometimes, I rescue. Sometimes, I teach. Always, I am continuing to learn. I want us all to learn how to stand in our own power, so we make fewer mistakes on our life path, and when we make them, we’re conscious of how we got there and where we are going next.

Dr. Nicole T. Rochester is a physician expert on health care navigation,  patient and family caregiver advocate, speaker, author, blogger, and the CEO of Your GPS Doc, LLC. She is a board-certified physician and Clinical Assistant Professor with over two decades of experience teaching and practicing medicine. As a caregiver to her late father, who suffered from dementia, diabetes, hypertension, end-stage kidney disease, depression, and heart disease, Dr. Rochester witnessed the disjointed health care system from the other side of the stethoscope and gained invaluable insight into the plight of patients and family caregivers. Dr. Rochester served as the medical interpreter and patient advocate for her dad during critical and sometimes frustrating encounters with healthcare professionals. She realizes that most patients and families do not have access to this “inside knowledge” and has made it her personal mission to help others navigate the health care system through her creation of Your GPS Doc, LLC.

I am a caregiver knowledge expert, and advocate for older adults and their families. I have over twenty-five years’ experience as a consultant building and enhancing corporate training programs with Ernst & Young and Huron Consulting group along with smaller boutique firms. My client base includes Fortune 500 companies across the US and Canada. Constant travel for my job made it a challenge to be involved in my parent’s health and living situation as they aged. In 2015 everything changed when I became responsible for my disabled mother after my father’s death.  I found myself asking “what do I do?” and “where do I start?” as her caregiver, as her financial adviser, and as her daughter?  Figuring out the answers to those burning questions drove home the need we all have to be an effective advocate for our aging parents. Through this life event my website Advocate for Mom and Dad was born.  Advocate for Mom and Dad offers practical advice for “what do I do?” and “where do I start?”  You will learn from the experience of others how they handled challenges on topics such as legal, financial, insurance, and caregiving issues.  Each story includes links to resources the family found helpful as an effective advocate for their parents.  The mission of Advocate for Mom and Dad is to build a community that helps families determine their best answers to the questions of “what do I do?” and “where do I start?”