Episode 8

Maintaining Wellness: Key Steps for Caregivers and Care Recipients

If they are lucky enough, everyone ages. In Episode Eight of the Caregiver Camp Podcast, host Jon Brody speaks with Linda Mac Dougall, a holistic health practitioner, massage therapist, disability consultant and author of the importance of The SPIRIT Method of Massage for Seniors. 

Massages are often seen as a luxury but as Linda explains, massage therapy can have a multitude of health benefits especially for seniors and those with a disability. From preventing blood clots to increasing mobility and being utilized for pain management, massage as a practice can be instrumental to improving life quality. Linda is on a mission to share her insights and experience. Linda shares her top items a caregiver should be looking out for when caring for a senior and or a client with a disability. 

In this episode you will hear:

  • The importance of ergonomics when it comes to choosing furniture and disability equipment 
  • Why caregivers need to take a holistic approach to caring when it comes to seniors which includes: 
  • What are the everyday check-in items caregivers should be looking out for
  • Nutrition and why organic fruit and vegetables are better for you
  • The importance of good posture for your internal organs
  • Learning to avoid “Blind Eye Care”
  • The benefits of massage therapy for caregivers as well as care receivers 
  • The difference in skin texture as we age and how massage can be tailored for different conditions
  • Why foot care is important for overall health when you have a disability and how some simple treatments can improve your health

About Linda

Linda got her M.A. in Counseling Psychology because she was seeking answers to family dysfunction.  She already had a background of working with the developmentally disabled population since high school.  She went on to be an administrator of two group homes for United Cerebral Palsy for over a decade.  Following her ex-husband's career, she then moved to Hawaii and became a Federal advocate for the state of Hawaii's families dealing with their population of developmentally disabled.  Her work there brought change to the system in the way of studies and a medical review board as well as the state guardians beginning to imitate her way of questioning and challenging the way things had always been done.

Today her focus has changed to the older adult population.  She is a senior health advocate and massage therapist, a holistic health practitioner, and a management consultant for caregiving situations.  As a senior herself, Linda is also an advocate for change in the senior living space.  Her background and focus on awareness led to the writing of her book "The SPIRIT Method of Massage for Seniors: Raising the Bar...A Primer for Massage Therapists and Caregivers".

Connect with Linda:

Website: https://www.loveyourlongevity.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveyourlongevity/

IG: N/A

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/linda-mac-dougall-984820

Twitter: holisticdoc1

Book - The S.P.I.R.I.T. Method of Massage for Seniors https://www.loveyourlongevity.com/the-spirit-method-of 

Connect with Host:

Jon Brody: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-brody-1281106/ 

Website: https://caregivercamps.com/ 

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About your hosts

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Tanya Krim

Tanya Krim is a long-distance caregiver for her parents who live in England. So she knows first-hand the emotional landscape and challenges of juggling work, life and caregiving. She chose to augment her 20-year career as a qualitative market researcher by obtaining her M.S. in Gerontology.

In the process, storytelling has become her passion as she believes that storytelling can offer multiple benefits to care recipients as well as their caregivers.

She is now applying her background to crafting meaningful, emotive, insight-rich Legacy Stories/Histories and spearheading storytelling training to help working caregivers as well as their care recipients reminisce, relive, revive and 'reset'.
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Debbie Howard

Debbie Howard is a former caregiver who served as both long-distance and live-in caregiver during her mom’s dying days in South Carolina, while running her Tokyo-based market research consultancy.
With the launch in 2016 of AMI (Aging Matters International) and TheCaregivingJourney.com, Debbie combined her caregiving experience with her 40 years in market research and communications to support companies and working caregivers in navigating their caregiving journeys with more ease and grace. https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiehoward/?originalSubdomain=jp
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Jonathan Brody

Jon Brody helped his mom age in place and live independently to the ripe old age of 93.
With over 30 years of marketing experience in the healthcare industry on both the client and agency sides, he has a deep knowledge of corporate needs including global strategy, market research & analytics.
He has bolstered this with his acquisition of an M.S in Gerontology from the University of Massachusetts. He is also a proud member of the Gerontological Society of America, American Society on Aging, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.