I’m thrilled to announce the launch of AlzAuthors new podcast, UNTANGLING ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA, on the Whole Care Network today.
I’m the producer and host of this passion project. I’m also a founding member and director of AlzAuthors, the global non-profit that seeks to eliminate the silence and stigma surrounding a dementia diagnosis.
The podcast has been in the works for many months. We’re grateful for the guidance and support we’ve received from Chris MacLellan, founder of the Whole Care Network, who nurtured our dream of bringing our authors’ stories to caregivers in this new format.
About AlzAuthors
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience. Our mission is to use the art of storytelling to help light the way for others currently on that journey. Each member of our all-volunteer team has witnessed the decline or loss of a loved one with dementia. Together we provide a gateway to quality resources written by those who understand the challenges they face.
Since 2016, AlzAuthors has shared its authors’ dementia stories on our blog and in our anthologies. Why the move to audio?
About the Podcast
The podcast format makes it easier for busy caregivers and those concerned with dementia to learn about the disease and seek much needed guidance. Listening to a podcast does not require sitting in one place. We can listen while in the car, doing housework, anytime, hands free. We hope that by sharing our authors’ stories in this way we are better able to reach those who have little free time but are in desperate need of knowledge, comfort, and support.
With more than 250 author contributors, AlzAuthors has a wealth of knowledge to share. We’ve curated hundreds of powerful and profound stories, spanning all disease types and stages through a variety of genres, including memoirs, non-fiction, novels, children’s literature, activity books, poetry, blogs, and more. Each week a new author shares their dementia story and discusses their book.
The authors’ backgrounds are diverse, and their situations vary. They may be living with the disease themselves, are a caregiver for a loved one at home or in a facility, or may be a healthcare professional specializing in dementia or memory care. Each one wrote a book to help others and was selected to become an AlzAuthor after careful vetting by a member of our management team. Their personal stories offer valuable insight often told through laughter and sometimes tears.
Podcast Schedule
The first season of six episodes kicks off with Wendy Mitchell, bestselling author of the memoir Somebody I Used to Know, who describes her experience living with young-onset dementia.
Following episodes include:
11/9/20: Gincy Heins, creator and editor of Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia and one of the co-authors of the series 365 Caregiving Tips: Practical Tips from Everyday Caregivers, who talks about caring for a husband with early onset Alzheimer’s;
11/16/20: Loretta Veney, author of Being My Mom’s Mom, who speaks on caring for a mother who lives in a care home;
11/23/20: Kathryn Harrison, author and illustrator of the children’s book Weeds in Nana’s Garden, who shares her journey of caring for a mom with dementia while raising young children;
11/30/20: Irene Frances Olson, author of the novel Requiem for the Status Quo, who discusses caring for her father who had Alzheimer’s;
12/7/20: Lisa Skinner, author of the caregiver guide Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost, and a professional working in the dementia field who also assisted in the care of several family members (and her dog) with memory impairment.
Listen now!
Learn more about AlzAuthors
For more information on AlzAuthors visit AlzAuthors.com where you will find the web’s most comprehensive collection of books and blogs on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in one place. While there, please browse our bookstore of 250+ vetted titles and view our supportive “Dementia Care During COVID” videos. AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
About The Whole Care Network
The Whole Care Network is a multi-media, multi-channel platform for caregivers to locate and share trusted resources and take comfort and refuge through real-life stories, while being personally validated in their caregiving journey by those who understand. The Network features a variety of podcasts of interest to caregivers touching on what it calls “the four pillars of health”: physical, social, financial, and spiritual needs.
This collection of stories is a labor of love. The stories are personal and enlightening, poignant and hopeful. The six daughters of dementia who manage the organization and its editorial team assembled them with great care and love and released them into the world in a convenient book form to provide a soft-landing spot for those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia and those who care for them.
Several years ago I wrote A Long and Winding Road, the story of the hilarity and chaos that happened when my husband and I took Mom and Dad, both of whom had Alzheimer’s, on a seven-week, sixteen-state trek across the southeastern U.S. in a forty-foot motor home. In it I also told of the years and the life experiences that brought the four of us together. Readers responded to the emotions in the story – the humor, the joy, the sorrow. But most of all, they responded to the love, and they wanted to know what happened next. Mom’s Long Goodbye is the rest of the story.
After years as a family caregiver, Linda Brendle began to write as a way of helping herself and others deal with the pain and frustration of caregiving. Now that her parents are eternally healed, she writes about life in the country, her feral Kitty, and her amazingly patient husband David.
By Eleanor Cooney
I know that some will find the story I tell in my book 
But at the same time, I began writing 
Judy Cornish is an elder law attorney, geriatric care manager and author who has spent the past nine years working with families and people experiencing dementia in northern Idaho and Eastern Washington. Prior to her law practice and founding the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network® (DAWN), Judy had worked in vocational rehabilitation and as a psychosocial skills trainer with the mentally ill. With her varied background—and education in literature, languages, fine arts and the law—she discovered a unique and truly effective approach to dementia care. The DAWN Method® enables families to recognize and meet their loved ones’ emotional needs, so they can live comfortably and safely at home for longer. Today, Judy runs Palouse Dementia Care, providing case management and care services on the Palouse, and DAWN, through which she consults and provides training in DAWN care.
Rachel Hiles is a 30-something aspiring local celebrity do-gooder in Kansas City. She is a proud graduate of the UMKC Bloch school, where she obtained her Masters of Public Administration with an emphasis in nonprofit management. She worked in the developmental disabilities field in a variety of roles for over 13 years. Most recently, she ventured down the path to self-employment as a graphic, web, and media designer so she could have flexibility in her role as primary caregiver to her grandma, Barbara.
I started writing about my journey into eldercare on Facebook in what I called #GeezerUpdates. The Facebook posts quickly gained traction and morphed into a blog at geezerstories.com and ultimately a book—my bittersweet memoir, 
Marianne Sciucco, Author 