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aging together // unfiltered

@agingtogetherpodcast

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aging. elder care. caregiving.
🚫 NOT medical advice.
🎙️ hosted by Dr. Pooja A. Patel, OTR/L, BCG @poojka
⬇️ book • blog • resources • directory

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It's been a while, so I thought it was time for a mini reintroduction.

Hi, I’m Dr. Pooja A. Patel, a double-board-certified occupational therapist and gerontologist, and the founder behind Aging Together.

Why does this space exist? Because our health and care systems aren’t exactly known for being easy to navigate. Right now, over 63 million unpaid family caregivers are trying to piece together the roadmap on their own.

Aging Together is here to change that.

I've spent the past decade helping patients and their families navigate our health and care systems. But I could only impact so many families one-on-one. So I built Aging Together, where families all across the country can learn and benefit.

I've built a podcast with unfiltered conversations, a blog with real-world education, and resources you actually need to advocate for your loved ones and yourself.

Hit that follow button to stay connected, subscribe to the show, and check out our links in bio to explore resources at your fingertips.

Thank you for being here!

#CaregiverSupport #AgingTogether #OccupationalTherapist by @agingtogetherpodcast

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3 months ago

Aging Together is an educational media and advisory company helping families and organizations navigate aging, care, and caregiving.

We offer various products, including the podcast, a blog, this social media page, and more on our website.

Check us out at aging-together.com.

Want to join the directory or list your product in our shop? Email me to chat!

*Our founder personally reviews and vets all services and products before adding them to our website to ensure trust and validity.

#aging #caregiving #eldercare by @agingtogetherpodcast

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3 months ago

You don't want to have to make 100 decisions during a crisis. Start making some of them today. Books, workbooks, and many resources are all available on the website now. Check them out at aging-together.com!

#aging #caregiving #eldercare by @agingtogetherpodcast

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3 months ago

Holly Larson says a logical entry point is helping families with better care planning resources. She notes the common stereotype, or stat, is that maybe 20 percent of people plan ahead and 80 percent wait for the moment. The challenge with the moment? Arriving reactively means scrambling to set up care without considering all the options, while also fitting it into your life, your work and your family system.

Link in bio.

#FamilyCaregiving #CarePlanning #AgingTogether #Caregivers by @agingtogetherpodcast

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5 hours ago

Holly Larson's hot take: there is no system. When her loved one fell and shattered his ankle on a dream vacation to Italy, Holly told her boyfriend, now her husband, that the system would take over once they got home. Instead came two years of recovery, a failed transition to assisted living, and endless appointments and providers. Her realization: families are the system, building it every day with very little support.

Link in bio.

#FamilyCaregiving #CarePlanning #AgingTogether #Caregivers by @agingtogetherpodcast

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18 hours ago

Today we're talking about the care system hiding inside every family. When we say families have become part of the care infrastructure, what are they actually being asked to do? Why are so many unprepared until they're already in it? Where does the system break down? And if we designed care around how families actually live today, what would we do differently? Holly Larson of Your Chief Care Officer joins me to dig in.

Link in bio.

#FamilyCaregiving #CarePlanning #AgingTogether #Caregivers by @agingtogetherpodcast

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a day ago

Meet Holly Larson, founder of Your Chief Care Officer. Holly created it after years navigating an extraordinarily complex family care journey through dementia, cancer, repeated hospitalizations, assisted living transitions and end-of-life care. That experience revealed what she sees as a structural problem: families are increasingly asked to operate complex care systems they were never designed or prepared to manage. Today Holly builds frameworks to help families, care organizations and innovators understand the hidden architecture of care.

Link in bio.

#FamilyCaregiving #CarePlanning #AgingTogether #Caregivers by @agingtogetherpodcast

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a day ago

Caregivers, you are the healthcare system. Families are the backbone of elder care. Not hospitals, not insurance companies, not the government. Families coordinate the doctors, manage medications, arrange transportation, handle finances, make legal decisions, and show up at 2 a.m. when something goes wrong. Yet we hand them a discharge packet and send them on their way. We built a care infrastructure that depends on families, and zero infrastructure to support them.

New episode drops tomorrow. Link in bio.

#FamilyCaregiving #CarePlanning #AgingTogether #Caregivers by @agingtogetherpodcast

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2 days ago

"And what I realized, Pooja, is there is no system. The families are the system. They are creating it every day." Holly Larson, founder of Your Chief Care Officer, came to this realization after her loved one shattered his ankle on a dream vacation to Italy. On this week's episode, Invisible Infrastructure: Building a Care System Around Families, Holly and I talk about what families are really carrying.

New episode drops tomorrow. Link in bio.

#FamilyCaregiving #CarePlanning #AgingTogether #Caregivers by @agingtogetherpodcast

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2 days ago

Lose one jigsaw piece and the puzzle sits in the box forever. Lose a piece here and you can still play.

"We need to play until we die." In an age-appropriate way.

So many activities are task-oriented. Beginning, middle, end. Do it this way or you lose. That sets people up to fail.

With sensory engagement, there's no wrong way. Even staring at it is engagement.

Full episode out now. Link in bio.

Use code AGINGTOGETHER10 for 10% off your order at shop.geri-gadgets.com!

#dementiacare #sensory #occupationaltherapy #agingtogether by @agingtogetherpodcast

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3 days ago

So much caregiver stress comes down to one thing: not being able to connect meaningfully with the person you're caring for.

This offers a way in. For the adult caregiver. For the grandkids too.

Angela calls it "a bridge to communication without words."

You don't need words to connect.

Who in your family could use that bridge?

Full episode out now. Link in bio.

Use code AGINGTOGETHER10 for 10% off your order at shop.geri-gadgets.com!

#caregiving #dementiacare #caregiversupport #agingtogether by @agingtogetherpodcast

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3 days ago

It's not about living longer. It's about living better longer.

Angela points to the Netherlands. People stay outdoors. Ride their bikes, even in winter. Garden. Stay engaged.

Her take: we all need food and water. But we also need exercise, engagement, and connection.

And she says that's paying off there: people with cognitive decline staying mild to moderate for most of their lives.

What does "living better" look like for your person right now?

Full episode out now. Link in bio.

Use code AGINGTOGETHER10 for 10% off your order at shop.geri-gadgets.com!

#healthyaging #dementiacare #agingtogether #caregiving by @agingtogetherpodcast

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3 days ago