Happy Healthy Caregiver

Art Bowker cares for his mother who is living with Alzheimer’s while juggling multiple careers, including one as a cybercrime expert. Art has over 30 years of experience in law enforcement and corrections and co-authored a book to help us protect vulnerable adults from cybercrimes and provides guidance on surviving a cyberattack. In this episode we chat about cybercrime (like pig butchering), what...

In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Jess Ronne shares her powerful caregiving journey, from supporting her late husband through brain cancer to raising her son, Lucas, who lives with profound disabilities—alongside seven other children. Jess is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, podcast host, documentary producer, and passionate caregiver advocate. She opens up about the stark c...

In May we pay tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success. This caregiver spotlight episode echoes all of these sentiments. Meet Paurvi Bhatt, a dedicated family caregiver, care advocate, and second-generation Indian American with deep personal and professional caregiving experience. Raised in a family of...

Meet Jim Cooper who has been married for 40+ years and cared for his wife who had brain cancer. Jim is a man of many talents and experiences. He has been a radio DJ, real estate broker, IT consultant, author, podcaster, and currently is a voice over professional who narrates audiobooks. In this episode, Jim and I discuss the value of staying connected to friends, family, health professionals, and...

In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, we’re joined by Carrie Severson—caregiver to her husband Gavin and a recognized expert in burnout. Carrie shares how her personal caregiving journey inspired her advocacy work, storytelling, and her podcast, I Saved You. Now, Do the Dishes. We dive into the difference between caregiver burnout and the entrepreneurial burnout Carrie previously...

Dr. Tina Sadarangani is a sandwich generation caregiver and a NYU Assistant Professor who is a board-certified adult and geriatric nurse practitioner. Even though she is a clinician and has a PhD focused on aging, she still finds navigating our healthcare system difficult as the quarterback of the family’s care team. In this episode, we talk about what Dr. Tina would do to improve our healthcare s...

In this milestone 200th episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, I’m thrilled to share something extra special with you—I’m introducing two amazing people who mean the world to me: my sisters! You may already be familiar with my older sister, Susie Morrell, who was our mom’s primary caregiver for many years and has been featured on two previous episodes. However, this is the first time you’...

Susan Bottega is a nurse by practice who became a caregiver when her husband was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic lymphocytic leukemia) over 12 years ago. Since then, Susan has adjusted her life to caring for Bob, researching CLL and treatment options, and helping other CLL family caregivers through her virtual support group. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Susan and I talk abou...

Kitty Norton left her job as an NBC assistant editor in Los Angeles in 2016, for her hometown of Portland, Oregon, to walk, stumble, crawl with her dementia mother to death’s door. While doing so, she authored the dementia caregiver blog Stumped Town Dementia, writing tales of dementia life which resonated deeply with readers around the world. After her mother's death, Kitty turned her storytellin...

Heather Henderson is what I’m calling a boomerang family caregiver since she has moved in with her mom to be her primary caregiver at various times in her life. Heather initially became a primary caregiver overnight in 2003 when her parents were in a fatal car accident - her dad did not survive, and her mom was seriously injured. She moved home to care for mom until she was fully recovered. Fiftee...

Kelley Coleman is a California mom to two amazing boys and full-time caregiver for her son with multiple disabilities. She is a feature film development executive turned author and advocate for parent caregivers and individuals with disabilities. Her book draws upon over a decade of experience parenting a child with multiple disabilities In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast we ta...

After struggling with the demands of caring for her aging mother, Paige Wilson made a bold move, leaving her corporate career and becoming an entrepreneur with a big idea to help family caregivers. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, we learn about her disruptive care solution that utilizes technology to harness the strength of community. We also discuss normalizing asking for...

Jennifer Cain Birkmose is a sandwich generation caregiver, juggling the responsibilities of caring for loved ones in two different countries and life stages, while employing two distinct caregiving styles. She is also an improv comedian and instructor, with over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, we explore how Jennifer integr...

Gene Lanzoni's life centers around caregiving, both at home and at work. As an only child, Gene and his wife of over 30 years, Elizabeth, took on the responsibility of caring for his aging parents. Professionally, Gene leads the development of thought leadership research and produces content on caregiver trends. He is also a co-lead and founding member of a caregiver-focused employee resource grou...

Jessica Patay, a reformed perfectionist and dedicated caregiving mother, provides compassionate support and resources to other moms caring for children with disabilities or unique needs. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Jessica shares how she manages and supports her son Ryan, who has a rare genetic condition called Prader-Willi syndrome, while maintaining her own well-being...

In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, meet Mark Wilson, a former senior leader at Taco Bell with a focus on organization and people development. After retiring early to care for his mom, who lived with mixed dementia, Mark embraced the role of a 'Care Leader.' Combining his corporate HR skills with his caregiving journey, he developed a dedicated care mission, hired and retained...

Christina Keys was living the American dream until one day in March of 2013, her mom had a life-changing stroke. Within 3 years of caregiving for her mom Pat, Christina was financially, emotionally, and mentally bankrupt. Her doctors told her that the stress of caregiving was literally killing her. Christina took action to make a different choice and turned her caregiving co-dependent mess into a...

Sabrina Ortolano has been a caregiver for her wife, Cyndi, since 2014 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Sabrina and I talk about her identity crisis that sprouted from caregiving, the importance of body work, fundraising for brain surgery, asking for the right help, and managing judgment from others and unsolicited advi...

Anthony Cirillo cared for several family member and these experiences prompted him to focus his professional career on helping older adults and advocating for seniors and their caregivers through singing, speaking, consulting and writing. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, we learn about Anthony’s new legacy project and product called Sage Stream which provides social engageme...

Steve Guttenberg is a beloved Hollywood actor, known for his role in films including Diner, Police Academy, Short Circuit, Three Men and a Baby, Cocoon, and television shows including Ballers and Veronica Mars. We have enjoyed Steve Guttenberg in many roles and now I’d like to spotlight maybe the role that was the most difficult for Steve – the role of family caregiver to his dad and hero, Stanley...

Vinnie Venugopal cared for his father and is a Certified Aging In Place Specialist with a passion for entrepreneurship and building solutions. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Vinnie shares how a 2-week vacation to India with his parents turned into an 8-week caregiving nightmare. Then, when his family was able to return home more attention was needed to help his dad age in...

Tara Ross brings a wealth of personal experience and unwavering support to fellow caregivers, drawing from more than a decade of caregiving roles. Having navigated the complexities of caring for a veteran, her in-laws, and balancing the needs of young children and pets, Tara intimately understands the challenges caregivers face. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Tara shares h...

Dr. Zahydie L. Burgos Ribot cares for her husband, Francisco, also known as Paco, who is living with Young Onset Familial Alzheimer's Disease. In this episode, Zahydie and Paco share their caregiving journey. They talk about how they took time to understand and cope with Paco's diagnosis and process their feelings of grief before telling others. They also discuss Paco's treatment, including E2814...

Steve Powell cared for both of his parents as their health and mobility declined. His experiences mitigating many falls for his parents, prompted his invention of a device designed to lift individuals safely and comfortably off the floor. In this episode, Steve and I chat about aging in place, fall prevention, perfectionism, and why he has the well-deserved nickname of ‘The Singing Wine Maker.’ Sh...

Alder Allensworth cared for her mother who had Alzheimer’s and her father who had vascular dementia. Alder’s inspiration to co-create a children’s tool kit for families came from watching her mother interact with her grandchildren. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, we talk about the resources Alder and her friend Brenda created to help children better understand dementia. Ald...