Dare to Care

A Guide to Caring for Aging Parents and Loved Ones at Home

By: Beth Carriedo Hook, Susan Carriedo Alba, Mary Lee Otis Bailey, Katinka A. Hartendorp, Rich Lee, Elaine Carriedo Lozano, Kathy Morris, Joji Caro Tipace, Dan Weeks, Harriet Weeks

Narrated by: Pegeen Singley

Length: 3 hrs

Publisher's summary

Dare to Care: A Guide to Caring for Aging Parents and Loved Ones at Home. The challenges and experiences of in-home caregiving

Dare to Care is a personal reflection of the love and care that is offered by carers for love, honor, and duty. It tells the life stories of the author and nine others in caring for a loved one at home and the profound affection they had for each other. This is one story about home caregiving that is very relevant and much needed in times of pandemic and non-pandemic. Many families and homes all over the world can relate to the author’s personal experience in caregiving. Dare to Care is a most beautiful, heartening, and touching story—a one-of-a-kind story worth re-telling and learning from.

The book is written in two parts: Part I is about the challenges and experiences faced by the author in looking after her centenarian mother-in-law in the last few years of her life and the very special bond that was formed. Believing how her experience as a caregiver had changed her profoundly for the better, she decided to share the story of this unique and special period in her life. Part II is a collection of loving stories by nine other caregivers whose lives were also touched and makes the book a fascinating read. Together, the book gives an insight into various aspects of caregiving, both physical and psychological.

The listeners will be uplifted by the loving devotion to the details of care, required of caregivers. As their moving stories unfold, in caring for someone who would become almost—if not completely—dependent on the carer, surprisingly, it is the giver who benefits the most!

©2022 Beth Carriedo Hook (P)2022 Beth Carriedo Hook

Every Caregiver Needs this Encouraging Book!

This book provided timely words of encouragement, and helped renewed strength and vision that our family needed right now. It also made me cry with the personal, heartwarming and real details. So thankful for the authors who bravely and authentically shared their hearts and stories.

My 96-year-old grandma has been living in my parents’ home for exactly two years. I moved back from overseas one year ago and have had the privilege of helping them care for her in this season.

We are incredibly blessed and honored to have Grandma with us and be the ones providing the physical and emotional care she needs. We are grateful for an amazing team of caregivers who love Grandma and are here for her and for us as well.

But it is not always easy. I listened to this audiobook just days after an emotional roller-coaster of a couple of weeks where Grandma’s health declined so suddenly that we wondered each day if it might be the day that she would be leaving our house for her forever home in Heaven. Thankfully, she is stronger and “herself” again, and it seems we’ll have more time together here, in the daily routines, and “just talking,” our favorite pastime.

While every family’s story of caring for elderly members is different, there are so many common threads that stood out in this book and mirror our experiences. Knowing that others deal with the same emotions and challenges and joys that we do helped us feel that we are not alone, and that our experiences are “normal.” And it provided ideas of how to care for Grandma even better, based on practical advice and experiences from each story.

The stories in this beautifully written book overflow with affection, love, respect, honor, gratitude, and faith. So much of what carers shared resonated with my mom and I and our experiences in taking care of Grandma.

If you are a carer for a loved one or any elderly person, listen to this audio book today! You will be encouraged and inspired and blessed by the stories in this book. And if you know a family or individual caring for an elderly person, they most certainly can use extra support and encouragement, no matter how well they are doing. So please buy this book as a gift for them!

Wonderful audiobook!

I really appreciated this book!

There is so much great content on how to maximize the life quality of aging loved ones around you. We often take for granted the love and care that our parents provided us through thick and thin. The least we can do is support them in their vulnerable stages in life. After all, we all wish our children would do the same.

This book is packed with a ton of easy to apply techniques that will keep your parents appreciative and give you the power to show your gratitude and help aging parents. Definitely recommend this book to all.

Very heartfelt!

I myself have gone thru taking care of my elderly parents until their end. This book sure brought up all the emotional I have kept inside me. Very informative. Shows how to have empathy, understanding and patience. Very well written.

Extremely Helpful

Grandma always said that getting old isn't for the faint of heart. And she was right. As our loved ones age, they often need more care and assistance than we are able to provide on our own. That's where in-home caregiving comes in. But we tend not to be ready.

Our grandma is getting old and can’t no longer live on her own, so my wife and I wanted to listen to this book to be ready for when she finally decides to move in, which is far away.

This books explores some of the challenges you may face as a caregiver, as well as the ways you can overcome them. It also looks at the different types of facilities and services available to caregivers, and when it might be time to consider moving your loved one into a care facility.

We recommend this book because it’s real and from care givers perspective. It gave us a lot of insight so we are ready and know what to expect. Very well done.

Valuable guide for caregivers

This audiobook gives insight into the day to day challenges of caring for a loved one and shares practical tips on handling the physical and emotional demands. Very touching stories from those who unexpectedly found themselves in a caregiving role.

Show Me the Way to Go Home

Love is the motivation to caring for elderly family members! This was a wonderful book with real-life experiences! Also, I loved the referral of the song, “Show Me the Way to Go Home!”

Fantastic

This is a very useful book that is very easy to follow, this guide covers all factors of care - how to prepare for it, how to show the correct emotions and how to get past any possible obstacles that the patient may run into. This book offers many different tactics of care because it certainly isn't a one size fits all kind of task. I recommend this to anybody caring for loved ones at home.

An excellent resource for caregivers

This is a very important topic that requires much preparation and emotional labor. This book is an excellent resource for those preparing themselves to be caregivers for aging loved ones in their lives. The information presented is both practical and compassionate, which I really appreciate. I'll be referring to this book regularly as I enter this stage of adulthood.

Great book on a tough subject!

Thank you for writing this book. I truly enjoyed how you thought of virtually everything connected to caring for my aging parents… but AT HOME! The getting outside help chapter was so informative! Great job!

Tender tales of unending affection.

Dare to Care contains intimate stories about the selfless care given by caregivers out of loyalty to those they love and respect. The author put much care into writing this book and it is also entertaining.

This book includes insights into the realities of aging, the importance of genuine empathy in caregiving, and a wealth of helpful information for implementing a strategy for providing in-home care for a sick relative.

Despite the difficulties they faced, reading about the nine caregivers, their dedication, and their love for the elderly for whom they were caring was inspiring.

In a culture that increasingly devalues the worth of the elderly, reading stories emphasizing the value of elderly parents was heartening.

The book is a compilation of different perspectives on caregiving's physical and mental aspects. The first part focuses on the author's experiences caring for her mother in her final years and the treasured bond that developed between them. The second part of the book is a collection of heartfelt accounts from nine other caregivers. The experience enhanced their lives.

As their touching tales unfold, it becomes clear that the caregiver is the one who reaps the most significant rewards from taking care of someone who comes to rely heavily upon, if not entirely, on them.

I have had similar experiences and recommend this book to anyone faced with the decisions involved when caring for their loved ones at home.