Caregiver vs. Care Partner...

“There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been Caregivers. Those who are Caregivers. Those who will be Caregivers, and those who will need a Caregiver.” Roslyn Carter

If you would get Covid tomorrow and would need to be supported by someone else, would you want that person to come into your life and take over....?

Caregiving vs. Care Partnering, why is the distinction important? It is the difference between doing to you and doing with you. Caring for someone is hard work, and if you take on the role of Caregiver it insinuates that you are there to take over and be in charge. It also implies that the care receiver takes more of a passive role in their care and the Caregiver takes on all the responsibilities. This is more of a one way street. It is hard and heavy on everyone.

Care Partnering however, insinuates the person supporting another person picks up where the other person leaves off. This is more of an inclusive two way street which means the person who needs care is still in charge of their own life. It is the difference between doing “with” vs doing “to”. It is the different between power over vs. power with... it is the difference between what is important “for” you vs. what is important “to” you...

If you think about your morning routine for instance, would anyone know what part of your routine is essential in your survival and the most important part for starting each day? It has been my experience through my travels is that Coffee... seems to be the #1 part of each persons day, which is awesome, but if we