ODL 228: The State of Caregiving in America: Unpredictable Times and Charting a New Way Forward 

Target Audience:

This course is targeted for social workers, case managers, nurses, and counselors.

Overview:

Caregivers are revered for the love, attention, and support they provide to the individuals in their care.  Caregiving is a stressful, relentless, unpredictable, and often unpaid role.  With a global pandemic that has uprooted all societal systems from health and behavior supports, schools and childcare, to our community and familial support systems, caregivers have experienced unprecedented and challenging times.  In this powerful presentation, Author Kate Washington will offer an honest assessment of the caregiving experience in America.  Joined later by Jenny Buckley, RN, BSN, CHPN, for a panel discussion on the diverse experiences of caregivers, the group will share resources, tools, and tips to avoid burnout, and guidance on finding additional support.

Course Objectives:

• Summarize the challenges that caregivers encounter in navigating structural systems
• List available resources and support to avoid caregiver burnout
• Name two resources to share with clients and caregiving professionals

Presenters:

Kate Washington

Kate Washington is a writer in Northern California whose first book, Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America has been called “an eye-opening account from a full-time caregiver…a timely and crucial appeal.” The story of Washington’s struggle to care for her seriously ill husband, Already Toast offers a revealing look at the role unpaid family caregivers play in a society that fails to provide them with structural support. Already Toast shows how all-consuming caregiving can be, how difficult it is to find support, and how the social and literary narratives that have long locked women into providing emotional labor also keep them in unpaid caregiving roles. Kate’s book, Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America, is currently available on Amazon.

Jenny Buckley

Jenny Buckley is a hospice and palliative care nurse with over twenty years of experience caring for individuals with serious advanced illness and their families. Driven by her passion for helping patients navigate their illness experience while keeping their quality of life in mind, Jenny takes pride in providing the best complete care planning and decision assistance for those she serves. As founder of Jenny Buckley Care Matters, which she started in 2020, her goals include using her extensive personal and professional experience to provide guidance and resources during a family’s serious illness experience. In addition to providing support and presence for those in her care, Jenny is also a cancer survivor, blogger on her site HOPEspot and a national speaker on topics surrounding hospice and palliative care. Jenny lives in Roswell, Georgia with her husband, Kevin, and her two sons.  You can best keep up with Jenny’s activities on her website, www.jennybuckleycarematters.com.

2 CREDIT HOURS APPROVED FOR:

Social Workers
ASWB ACE – 2 CE Credits
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work – 2 Contact Hours
Case Managers
CCMC – 2 Contact Hours
Nurses
California Board of Registered Nursing – 2 Contact Hours
Counselors
NBCC ACEP – 2 Contact Hours
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners – 2 Contact Hours

Please make sure to check with your own state board to ensure the transferability of CE credit for an asynchronous course. Some state boards may place restrictions regarding the modality of training required for ethics credits to be awarded. If this training indicates ethics credits are available, please verify that your state allows them to be earned through an on-demand course format.