Welcome to Keeping it REAL Caregiving

News, information, REAL stories & inspiration for family caregivers

2021-08-17

*Thanks for stopping by Keeping It REAL Caregiving (KIRC) here at our new home on Substack! I’m thrilled you popped in and I am looking forward to getting to know more of you!

You may be wondering…what the heck is KIRC? Well, keep reading to get the background and basics of what we’re all about. When I published this article in August, 2021 - this concept, vision and content was in its infancy. I am thrilled to say, since that time, KIRC is 6k family members strong, growing and as we head into 2023, my goal is to create a larger, more vocal and more impactful platform so all of who are, have been or will be family caregivers - have a voice! I invite you to join us on this journey - stay tuned…!

Keeping it REAL Caregiving, or as we like to say KIRC, is here to help educate, inform, raise awareness and provide advocacy tools for you and your family to begin thinking about the reality of family caregiving.

Subscribe NOW to join a growing tribe of individuals who are here to support one another and offer each other guidance. PLUS, when we all share our personal stories and bring our collective voices together we become stronger in driving change.

Why should you join this movement? Well, I’ll tell you a little about myself and what I believe we can accomplish together.

Julia Yarbough/Keeping It REAL Caregiving

My name is Julia Yarbough and I have spent my career telling stories as an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, news anchor and reporter.

I have worked in Pensacola, Louisville, Miami, Los Angeles and Northern California. During my news career I have covered all kinds of issues, events and stories regionally, nationally and internationally. But my goal now is to help others learn some of the 'nuances’ of family caregiving. It is an issue close and dear to my heart.

I created Keeping it REAL Caregiving because I want to help all of you as a result of what I learned as a family caregiver to my elderly mother, Nellie.

I’m not a doctor, therapist, legal counselor or any other professional with letters after my name...

However, I am someone who experienced first hand, up close and personal... the realities of what comes into play when you are tasked with taking care of an elder who can no longer care for themselves. It is hands-on training and in many cases, you learn as you go and hope you are doing the right things.

Sadly, my mother, Nellie, passed in September, 2020. I miss her every day. But I believe this journey to help others is also part of 'her' journey.

During what I call the heavy-lifting years of my mother’s care I discovered something: ‘you don’t know what you don’t know.’ I also learned the current systems in place to help us care for our elders are sometimes lacking in useful information, connectivity, cultural awareness and they do not always provide a seamless delivery of services.

That landscape is slowly getting better because there is growing awareness. But in the meantime I believe those of us who have been on the journey can help others! The goal is to help make your experiences [hopefully] smoother and less stressful.

---

Why should you care about this? The realm of family caregiving and senior caregiving is a dynamic and ever-changing arena but it has the potential to impact each and every one of us directly or indirectly via someone you know.

Courtesy: AARP

Consider this: the AARP 2020 Report, Caregiving in the U.S. indicates there are 43.5 million family caregivers in our country. That’s a LOT of people and those numbers include women and men, and people of all varying ages and ethnic backgrounds. This issue impacts all corners of our society.

And think about this: our population is also aging rapidly and we are living longer. The U.S. Census projects life expectancy by 2060 to be an average of 85.6 years old. That's up from 79.7 in 2017.

[Getting older + living longer = more people who may need care.]

Based on just these two statistical figures you can see there will be a lot to unpack within the issue of aging and family caregiving.

So, here’s some of what you’ll get when you SUBSCRIBE to the Keeping it REAL Caregiving newsletter:

• You’ll receive current news plus practical tools and up-to-date information about family caregiving.

• You’ll learn tips and suggestions of how to prepare yourself for interacting with the medical and healthcare systems.

• You’ll have access to personal stories of hope and inspiration.

• You’ll receive information on the latest legal and legislative issues impacting caregiving and senior services.

• You’ll be delivered content to help you prepare; logistically, financially, medically and emotionally.

• You’ll have a chance to interact with other caregivers to share ideas, lessons learned, and motivational and/or inspirational moments. Remember, we are all in this together!

When you SUBSCRIBE, the Keeping it REAL Caregiving newsletter will arrive to your ‘in-box’ delivering articles designed to educate you, raise awareness and give you actionable steps you can take for you and your family.

Courtesy: Adobe Stock

As our KIRC online family and demand for information grows, we'll look to expanded content to include more videos and podcasts.

We will also look to connect and support each other in unique and creative ways because when we join together, anything is possible!

The reality is, the more informed choices you can make NOW regarding care for an elder the more prepared you will be if and when the time comes and you find yourself a family caregiver.

Julia & Nellie Yarbough/ Northern California, 2018

Plus we also intend to have a bit of fun along this journey. Our newsletter aims to help you stay calm and organized and also learn to find humor and inspiration from personal stories, anecdotes and suggestions for handling the “down and dirty” realities that can come with caregiving.

So again, welcome to Keeping it REAL Caregiving! As we roll down this road together I look forward to getting to know many of you. I hope to be able to help you on your journey and together I believe we will improve the landscape for our elders AND we will help each other as family caregivers.

Knowledge is power. I'd love to get to know you better and hear YOUR stories, challenges, hurdles and successes. We're all in this together - Email me at: info@juliayarboughmediagroup.com. I'm looking forward to this journey together!

Julia