Building a Supportive Community for Family Caregivers with Carolyn Dowdy

University City Partners Podcast

We're excited to provide insights into sustaining wellness for family caregivers. Our guest, Carolyn Dowdy, Founder of Caregiver Mental Wellness, shares her personal journey as a caregiver after her husband's stroke and discusses the burnout many caregivers face.

She highlights the vital role her nonprofit plays in offering educational programs, resources, and support to caregivers. Carolyn's vision for University City and her dedication to helping caregivers will leave you inspired. Tune in to learn how you can prioritize self-care and support the caregivers around you. Stay with us for this enlightening conversation!

Episode Highlights

02:53 - Caregivers, a lot of times, they will smile at you every day, put their mask on, and you ask them how they are in the workplace or wherever they're going. Adult and children may ask them, and they'll say, "Oh, I'm doing pretty good." And they really may not be.

05:08 - They may be getting an exhaustion, and they may cover up because they don't want people coming in and taking over their life. And so it's important to be proactive. And what I mean by that is call mom, get your other sibling or friend, and say, "Hey, mom. I'm going to keep dad. You go out and have a day in the park. You go out with your friends."

08:10 - It's difficult to understand, but I had a burden on my heart that would not let up because at my age, I wasn't looking forward to starting another company. But the burden over that 5 years kept being there, and I couldn't get rid of the burden. So I can't tell you where that burden came from, but I can tell you that I have the strength, and I'm sitting here now.

11:03 - We could have all kinds of wellness programs, including the family, because most families are family caregivers even if they have children and they're they're still family caregivers in some sense of the word.

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