Island Treasures Alison van Schie

Today’s caregiving story is told from the perspective of one receiving care. When Jenna Rumberger had a cardiac arrest at the age of 32, her world turned upside down. She had been working as a social worker in the field of geriatrics since 2013 and was familiar with caregiving - but this medical emergency flipped the script for her - as she found herself on the receiving end of care.Jenna holds a Masters of Social Work (MSW) and Masters of Public Health (MPH) from the University o...

In this mini episode we focus on the first half of the full episode called "Tapping Into Communication and Positive Activity". We hear how Lori Rogers has been a true champion for her son Craig. Craig is now an adult who has autism and is non-verbal. For example, when equipment in the Special Needs School program was lacking, Lori and her husband researched what was needed in Craig's school. Then they fund-raised to provide the equipment and cool tools that would benef...

This episode follows the compelling caregiving story of Lori Rogers. Lori is a successful businesswoman with three adult children. Her second child was diagnosed with autism at the age of two and he was a non-speaker. In 2011 her eldest child had a sports-related injury resulting in post-concussion symptoms which added a different aspect to Lori's already full caregiving life. But, it was through this accident that Lori was introduced to wellness resources that helped her st...

April is Parkinson's Awareness Month and the airing of the podcast featuring Dr. George Ackerman are timely as he is a huge voice in raising awareness for Parkinson's Disease.He and I spoke on February 1st, 2024 and the very next day he was able to meet his hero, Michael J. Fox. George shared how much this meant to him; given George’s passion as an advocate helping folks who are living with Parkinson’s Disease.George had been the caregiver for his mom who had lived with Parkinson’s disease fo...

Dr. George Ackerman is from Brooklyn, N.Y. Now residing in Florida, he works in the fields of law, police, and education. George lost his mother, Sharon Riff Ackerman on 1/1/2020 due to Parkinson’s Disease.George and his family started TogetherForSharon® to honour his mother by keeping her memory alive; and to share the message of Parkinson’s Awareness and hope for a cure.Today TogetherForSharon® reaches thousands of individuals across the country for Parkinson’s Disease Awareness. George cur...

Following the full podcast episode featuring Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, this mini episode captures the content of the GEMS® model which describes the stages of brain change for folks living with dementia.Each stage is represented by a gem to help us understand the progression of dementia and how these stages impact the changes in our loved one's abilities.All we need to do is to provide the setting so that our loved one can shine!For more information and resources, be sure to chec...