Pardon Our Dust
We recently launched this new site and are still in the process of updating some of our archived content. Some details of this article may be incomplete, links may be broken, and other elements may not display properly yet. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
Prominent healthcare consultant Stephanie Kennan shares practical advice for family caregivers and lessons from her personal story as caregiver for her mother during Covid-19
“It is my hope that The Family Caregiver will assist many people as they face the uncertainty, challenges, and poignancy involved in caring for a loved one.”
–Ron Wyden
Each year, millions of Americans confront the challenges of providing adequate healthcare for elderly or ill loved ones. Now, one of America’s leading healthcare policy consultants, Stephanie A. Kennan, has written a guidebook that will be an invaluable resource for caregivers struggling with the complexities and high costs of the American healthcare system.
The Family Caregiver: A Survival Guide to Navigating the Healthcare System, Advocating for Your Loved One, and Remembering to Breathe (Morrowdale Press, 2021), is available on Amazon on Oct. 12, 2021.
The book covers all that family caregivers need to know, including:
 |
- Aging and Family Caregiving
- What Information and Legal Documents Do You Need?
- Surviving as a Family Caregiver
- The Hospital
- Navigating Long-Term Care
- Selecting a Long-Term Care Facility
- Palliative Care and Hospice
- Insurance: Medicare, Medigap, Medicaid, Long-Term
- After Someone Dies
The Family Caregiver is not only a concise guide for family caregivers but also shares Kennan’s very personal eight year journey of finding care for her own mother, who died in 2020.
“As I discovered when I became responsible for my mother’s care and her finances ,the challenges facing the family caregiver are complex and painful,” says Kennan. “Even experts on healthcare policy, such as myself, can be left confused and frustrated when they become caregivers. I wrote this book based on my own experience as a caregiver and as a healthcare policy consultant to help others successfully navigate the healthcare system for their loved ones.”
Kennan has also written a personal account of her own caregiving experiences during Covid-19 for USA Today, here.
For over two decades, Kennan has worked in the health policy arena. Her experience includes working for two members of the U.S. House of Representatives and for U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). She also served as Director of Federal Relations for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, as Assistant Director of Government Affairs for the American College of Emergency Physicians, and as a legislative representative for AARP.
Kennan has authored numerous articles concerning health policy and is quoted often in the healthcare press on current events. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and earned her MBA from George Washington University and an MA in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Myocarditis Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising global awareness and advancing the scientific knowledge of this underdiagnosed disease.
Visit her website stephanieakennan.com, where you can subscribe to her informative and supportive emails written for family caregivers.