WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:07.298 --> 00:00:09.698 Candace Dellacona: Welcome to the Sandwich Generation Survival Guide. 00:00:09.698 --> 00:00:11.668 I'm your host, Candace Dellacona. 00:00:12.068 --> 00:00:16.088 I am so happy today to welcome actually two guests. 00:00:16.118 --> 00:00:21.428 We're gonna be talking about a really important topic and one that is really 00:00:21.428 --> 00:00:23.948 going to be helpful to our listeners. 00:00:24.278 --> 00:00:27.128 We're going to be talking to today about supportive care, 00:00:27.128 --> 00:00:29.168 and we have two amazing women. 00:00:30.113 --> 00:00:36.233 Who have made it their life's work to provide us as caregivers, sandwich 00:00:36.233 --> 00:00:39.623 generation members, and our families, the patients, the people we care 00:00:39.623 --> 00:00:42.923 for with services and extra care. 00:00:42.923 --> 00:00:46.613 So I wanna welcome Sheri Biller of the Sheri and Les Biller 00:00:46.613 --> 00:00:53.123 Family Foundation and Anneliese Barron from One Family Foundation. 00:00:53.123 --> 00:00:53.453 Welcome. 00:00:55.238 --> 00:00:56.228 Anneliese Barron: Hey, Candace. 00:00:56.753 --> 00:00:58.553 Candace Dellacona: I am so glad to have you here. 00:00:58.553 --> 00:01:02.693 I wanna give our listeners a little bit of background on each of you. 00:01:02.843 --> 00:01:05.873 So maybe what I'll do is I'll start with you Sheri. 00:01:06.213 --> 00:01:08.853 You are kind enough to reach out to me. 00:01:08.913 --> 00:01:13.353 As I mentioned, this is a platform where we try to provide resources to 00:01:13.353 --> 00:01:18.393 our listeners, and your foundation reached out to me saying, Hey, we 00:01:18.393 --> 00:01:23.523 want to make sure that everyone knows about these services provided. 00:01:23.523 --> 00:01:28.203 So can you tell us maybe a little bit about your family foundation 00:01:28.413 --> 00:01:32.643 and what the foundation strives to do, and then we'll toss it over to 00:01:32.643 --> 00:01:36.393 Anneliese and talk about the coalition and what you work on together. 00:01:37.083 --> 00:01:37.623 Sheri Biller: Sure. 00:01:38.253 --> 00:01:43.083 I think first I have to just take quickly say a little bit about my story because 00:01:43.083 --> 00:01:45.333 my story is what led to the foundation. 00:01:45.703 --> 00:01:46.183 First. 00:01:46.933 --> 00:01:51.373 anyone who's listening, I'm an only child and anybody who knows anybody who's an 00:01:51.373 --> 00:01:57.013 only child knows how important their friends are to them, and I unfortunately 00:01:57.013 --> 00:02:01.378 lost my two best friends to breast cancer when I was in my thirties. 00:02:02.443 --> 00:02:07.693 At that time both of those families had terrible trauma happening 00:02:07.693 --> 00:02:09.283 to them because of the disease. 00:02:09.733 --> 00:02:14.623 And one of my girlfriends, both of her parents were doctors, very successful 00:02:14.623 --> 00:02:20.333 doctors in Los Angeles, and they, that family had just was falling apart. 00:02:21.068 --> 00:02:25.618 Including a child who committed suicide because nobody was talking to them. 00:02:25.948 --> 00:02:26.188 Candace Dellacona: Oh gosh. 00:02:26.218 --> 00:02:32.128 Sheri Biller: At that time I realized I was probably doing supportive care, not 00:02:32.128 --> 00:02:36.848 even knowing what the language meant, or had no words for what I was doing. 00:02:37.513 --> 00:02:41.613 I just jumped in to help take care of both of those families. 00:02:42.033 --> 00:02:47.613 And when I think about Sandwich, I think about, oh my gosh, sandwich, I was not 00:02:47.613 --> 00:02:51.483 only taking care of two other families with children and grandparents and 00:02:51.483 --> 00:02:57.303 parents, but also my own daughter, my own husband, and I was working at that time. 00:02:57.753 --> 00:03:05.483 And the idea of what happened at that time led me to talk to my husband 00:03:05.593 --> 00:03:11.143 often and would say if we ever had resources, we have to figure out a way 00:03:11.533 --> 00:03:16.993 to fix this, to help people with these life-threatening diseases and figure 00:03:16.993 --> 00:03:21.973 out how they have resources to be able to get through it without trauma, more 00:03:21.973 --> 00:03:23.713 trauma happening to them in the end. 00:03:24.403 --> 00:03:26.323 And so that's how we started our foundation. 00:03:27.143 --> 00:03:28.433 Candace Dellacona: That is so remarkable. 00:03:28.433 --> 00:03:32.273 And just for our listeners, so that everyone you know is aware, supportive 00:03:32.273 --> 00:03:37.563 care is a term that's thrown around quite a bit with diseases, diseases of 00:03:37.563 --> 00:03:42.953 the aged cancer, and it's refers to a holistic approach that is supposed to help 00:03:42.953 --> 00:03:47.783 patients and caregivers receive emotional and physical and sometimes practical 00:03:47.783 --> 00:03:50.303 support they need like, economic support. 00:03:50.753 --> 00:03:54.413 And I think what has happened is that studies have been done, and it's pretty 00:03:54.413 --> 00:03:59.573 clear that the more supportive care that the patients and the caregivers have 00:03:59.573 --> 00:04:03.683 in their lives in the middle of their illness, it will improve their symptoms. 00:04:03.683 --> 00:04:05.063 It'll improve their quality of life. 00:04:05.063 --> 00:04:10.003 It actually increases their chances of survival and for, those of us paying for 00:04:10.003 --> 00:04:12.073 this care reduces the cost of healthcare. 00:04:12.433 --> 00:04:15.833 So your Family Foundation addressing this and really framing 00:04:15.833 --> 00:04:17.303 it for us, Sheri is amazing. 00:04:17.353 --> 00:04:21.953 And that's sort of a perfect segue into your coalition partner here from the One 00:04:21.953 --> 00:04:23.873 Family Foundation,  Anneliese Barron. 00:04:23.873 --> 00:04:28.173 And just to give  Anneliese a bit of an introduction we were chatting 00:04:28.173 --> 00:04:33.883 earlier that I was so moved by Bradley Cooper's initiative with PBS and 00:04:33.883 --> 00:04:36.103 his documentary called Caregiving. 00:04:36.463 --> 00:04:40.063 And so our listeners should know that One Family Foundation is actually 00:04:40.063 --> 00:04:44.503 Bradley Cooper's Foundation, and that is why  Anneliese is here to talk about 00:04:44.503 --> 00:04:48.163 the foundation and the partnership with the Sheri and Les Biller Foundation, as 00:04:48.163 --> 00:04:50.208 well as her supportive care initiative. 00:04:50.263 --> 00:04:51.953 So welcome  Anneliese. 00:04:52.223 --> 00:04:53.033 Anneliese Barron: Thank you so much. 00:04:53.033 --> 00:04:53.933 Thanks for having me. 00:04:54.333 --> 00:04:59.488 I probably should have gone before Sheri, she is such a rockstar in this 00:04:59.488 --> 00:05:03.208 space and like you said at the top, that she's dedicated her life to this work. 00:05:03.238 --> 00:05:04.858 I'm newer in this space. 00:05:04.858 --> 00:05:08.258 I've been with One Family Foundation for about four and a half years. 00:05:08.568 --> 00:05:12.728 But the foundation was founded by Bradley Cooper after the passing 00:05:12.728 --> 00:05:15.158 of his father who had lung cancer. 00:05:15.548 --> 00:05:17.078 And this was a way to honor him. 00:05:17.328 --> 00:05:20.898 And the work that we've been doing up until now has been, was really focused 00:05:20.898 --> 00:05:27.118 on cancer and helping low income families get through their cancer journey. 00:05:27.398 --> 00:05:32.368 We really honed in on the side effect of cancer being the financial toxicity. 00:05:32.698 --> 00:05:36.178 It's a term that I didn't even know about until I started doing this work, but 00:05:36.178 --> 00:05:40.798 it's basically, it's the severe financial strain and the related psychological 00:05:40.798 --> 00:05:44.608 distress that patients experience due to the high cost of treatment. 00:05:44.608 --> 00:05:48.148 So we have patients that, they can't afford to pay for their treatment 00:05:48.148 --> 00:05:49.588 so that they miss their treatment. 00:05:49.798 --> 00:05:51.088 They don't finish it. 00:05:51.088 --> 00:05:52.438 They go into debt. 00:05:52.438 --> 00:05:54.328 They go into, they become bankrupt. 00:05:54.538 --> 00:05:57.628 And so all of those have an impact on the health of a person 00:05:57.628 --> 00:05:59.338 that's trying to survive cancer. 00:05:59.698 --> 00:06:02.488 And we know that these patients, that we've got loss of income. 00:06:02.488 --> 00:06:07.448 There's like higher non-medical expenses like childcare, 00:06:07.478 --> 00:06:08.918 transportation, things like that. 00:06:08.918 --> 00:06:11.438 That's like the work that we've been focusing on up until now. 00:06:11.588 --> 00:06:15.548 But we recently launched a caregiving initiative called Care Out Loud, 00:06:15.548 --> 00:06:19.208 and that's for not just cancer caregivers, but all caregivers. 00:06:19.448 --> 00:06:20.678 Candace Dellacona: Absolutely amazing. 00:06:20.688 --> 00:06:24.388 So tell me how and Sheri, maybe you can answer this. 00:06:24.388 --> 00:06:26.518 You come in as a family foundation. 00:06:26.548 --> 00:06:31.798 How did you connect with the One Family Foundation and other organizations 00:06:32.068 --> 00:06:36.758 to provide this supportive care, and can you go a little bit more into the 00:06:36.758 --> 00:06:40.148 programs that exist for our listeners who are dying to hear this information 00:06:40.148 --> 00:06:44.378 so that they can make those phone calls and send those emails when they are 00:06:44.378 --> 00:06:46.118 done listening through the podcast? 00:06:46.888 --> 00:06:49.288 Sheri Biller: I think we should also define supportive care. 00:06:49.493 --> 00:06:49.853 Candace Dellacona: Yeah. 00:06:50.218 --> 00:06:53.248 Sheri Biller: When we are all talking about supportive care, we're talking 00:06:53.248 --> 00:06:57.783 about all the needs of patients and their families and their loved ones and 00:06:57.783 --> 00:07:03.903 friends, the caregivers, all services that all needs except for the clinical care. 00:07:04.143 --> 00:07:08.673 So we're talking about whether it's nutrition, whether it's needing a 00:07:08.673 --> 00:07:13.983 babysitter just to be able to reach an appointment, pay an electric bill all 00:07:14.073 --> 00:07:19.818 just alleviate a stress, any kind of issue that comes up for our patients, including 00:07:20.028 --> 00:07:26.208 pain, including psychosocial, including every, everything that one could need. 00:07:26.208 --> 00:07:28.638 And that's what we're speaking about. 00:07:29.028 --> 00:07:35.108 The coalition came together because truly it was the first time that all 00:07:35.108 --> 00:07:39.488 of the people involved in supportive care ever were in a room together. 00:07:39.938 --> 00:07:45.998 That means policymakers, that means insurance, that means providers, doctors. 00:07:46.268 --> 00:07:50.438 We brought them all together and put them in a room and said, we have this problem. 00:07:50.888 --> 00:07:52.118 How are we gonna fix it? 00:07:53.498 --> 00:07:57.428 Fortunately,  Anneliese and her foundation wanted to help and 00:07:57.608 --> 00:07:58.868 that's how we came together. 00:07:59.303 --> 00:08:01.943 So we're all working together to get this work done. 00:08:02.553 --> 00:08:03.513 Candace Dellacona: Which is amazing. 00:08:03.513 --> 00:08:10.853 And what do you think it is that is bringing the concept of supportive care 00:08:10.853 --> 00:08:17.043 to the forefront because diseases and cancer and, dementia and all of the 00:08:17.043 --> 00:08:19.503 illnesses have been around forever. 00:08:19.503 --> 00:08:24.393 But why do you think, and maybe either of you can answer this why do you think 00:08:24.513 --> 00:08:27.123 that it's come to the forefront now? 00:08:27.183 --> 00:08:30.123 What is it about what's going on in our society now that we 00:08:30.123 --> 00:08:31.803 realized how important it is? 00:08:32.221 --> 00:08:34.051 Anneliese Barron: I don't know if it's that we didn't realize 00:08:34.366 --> 00:08:35.926 before that it was important. 00:08:35.926 --> 00:08:39.656 It's just that there wasn't a name for it and there wasn't anyone like Sheri 00:08:39.676 --> 00:08:42.876 who decided I'm gonna do something about this and take charge and 00:08:42.876 --> 00:08:45.126 spearhead an initiative to tackle it. 00:08:45.906 --> 00:08:48.366 Candace Dellacona: Sometimes it does take one person, Sheri. 00:08:49.621 --> 00:08:52.976 Sheri Biller: I think that the issues around what's happened 00:08:52.976 --> 00:08:53.786 in our healthcare system. 00:08:54.556 --> 00:08:57.676 Have brought this to the forefront a lot quicker. 00:08:58.066 --> 00:09:04.536 I think that the issues in society that are causing mental health crisis have 00:09:04.536 --> 00:09:06.816 also brought this more to the forefront. 00:09:07.166 --> 00:09:13.176 People realize they need help and nobody had the language to be able to say what 00:09:13.176 --> 00:09:18.996 this is, and I, whether it's cancer or Alzheimer's or any other disease, when 00:09:18.996 --> 00:09:24.546 we're looking at Supportive Care, we're looking at how to get people to live 00:09:24.546 --> 00:09:29.766 their best life, be it the patient, be it the caregiver, be it the loved one. 00:09:30.126 --> 00:09:34.446 We need to be able to give people, empower them to take control of 00:09:34.446 --> 00:09:36.246 their disease so they can get well. 00:09:36.606 --> 00:09:41.506 And so my feeling is it was just a situation that happened where everything 00:09:41.506 --> 00:09:46.336 came together and everybody became aware of, I can't do this by myself. 00:09:46.951 --> 00:09:47.611 Candace Dellacona: I think you're right. 00:09:47.611 --> 00:09:52.451 I think there has been this sort of convergence of these topics and in many 00:09:52.451 --> 00:09:56.706 ways, the convergence while it causes a tremendous amount of stress for all of 00:09:56.706 --> 00:10:02.146 us, it allows for the smartest people and the people who are generous with 00:10:02.146 --> 00:10:06.106 their time and their own resources to help us come up with a solution. 00:10:06.106 --> 00:10:10.256 And particularly here in the sandwich generation, while we're doing our 00:10:10.256 --> 00:10:15.566 best to raise our good humans and advocate for our aging loved ones, 00:10:15.566 --> 00:10:18.681 and somehow stay sane through it all. 00:10:18.891 --> 00:10:24.321 These resources are not only important, they really are vital. 00:10:24.891 --> 00:10:31.351 And so what would the two of you suggest when a diagnosis is received? 00:10:31.721 --> 00:10:37.191 In general, when a patient is sick, they, they see their doctor, and in 00:10:37.191 --> 00:10:41.241 this case an oncologist and maybe a radiologist, and perhaps a surgeon. 00:10:41.481 --> 00:10:47.151 What kicks off the initiative for the supportive care piece for the 00:10:47.151 --> 00:10:50.251 family, the caregiver, and the patient. 00:10:50.251 --> 00:10:52.891 How does a family even know where to turn? 00:10:54.691 --> 00:10:57.971 Sheri Biller: I think from this podcast just what you're doing is 00:10:57.971 --> 00:11:02.151 going to help that issue because we need to educate the public. 00:11:02.151 --> 00:11:05.241 We need to educate them and let them know what supportive care is. 00:11:05.631 --> 00:11:08.001 We need to help them ask for it. 00:11:08.781 --> 00:11:12.321 And resources are out there, but people don't know how to get it. 00:11:12.711 --> 00:11:13.731 So whether it's. 00:11:14.166 --> 00:11:19.026 Asking our friends using technology, asking your physician specifically, 00:11:19.776 --> 00:11:22.236 not being afraid to ask the questions. 00:11:23.406 --> 00:11:26.106 And that, that's always a, been a great concern. 00:11:26.436 --> 00:11:30.756 And when we think about the need for this, we have to think about rural communities 00:11:30.756 --> 00:11:32.346 where there aren't big hospitals. 00:11:32.436 --> 00:11:36.876 We have to think about people who don't have the resources and people 00:11:36.876 --> 00:11:41.231 who don't know even to think about this question that are out there and 00:11:41.231 --> 00:11:43.151 how to get the information to them. 00:11:43.391 --> 00:11:47.271 And so just what you're doing is so helpful and what  Anneliese 00:11:47.291 --> 00:11:49.811 is doing is incredibly helpful. 00:11:50.591 --> 00:11:50.771 Candace Dellacona: Yeah. 00:11:50.771 --> 00:11:54.201 Let's talk a little bit about the financial piece and what you're 00:11:54.201 --> 00:11:56.901 seeing with the One Family Foundation. 00:11:56.901 --> 00:12:00.051 Obviously Bradley saw the need for the economic support. 00:12:00.051 --> 00:12:05.031 Can you talk a little bit about that and what resources are available to those 00:12:05.031 --> 00:12:09.171 who are looking for assistance from an economic and financial perspective? 00:12:09.648 --> 00:12:10.248 Anneliese Barron: Yeah, sure. 00:12:10.248 --> 00:12:12.738 And I will say first there's just not enough of it, so 00:12:12.738 --> 00:12:14.868 I'll just start off with that. 00:12:15.018 --> 00:12:16.158 There's just not enough support. 00:12:16.648 --> 00:12:16.888 But yeah. 00:12:16.888 --> 00:12:19.168 But one of the things that we're doing right now with One Family 00:12:19.168 --> 00:12:23.188 Foundation is we've partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to 00:12:23.238 --> 00:12:25.248 launch a guaranteed income trial. 00:12:25.248 --> 00:12:27.608 So that's unconditional cash transfer. 00:12:27.818 --> 00:12:31.678 So we give patients that have advanced cancer and who have, 00:12:31.828 --> 00:12:33.028 they're under resourced. 00:12:33.028 --> 00:12:36.418 We give 'em a thousand dollars a month for 12 months, no strings attached. 00:12:36.418 --> 00:12:39.958 They get to decide, they have the dignity to decide what's best for their family. 00:12:39.958 --> 00:12:42.658 We're not gonna tell them, you need to spend the money on this. 00:12:42.688 --> 00:12:44.338 They know their family best, not us. 00:12:44.638 --> 00:12:48.748 And so we give them that, that cash payment every month for 12 months. 00:12:48.748 --> 00:12:51.808 And then we're doing analysis after that to see how does this 00:12:51.808 --> 00:12:56.188 impact their treatment adherence, treatment completion, health markers 00:12:56.438 --> 00:12:59.288 emotional wellness, things like that. 00:12:59.388 --> 00:13:04.308 Be, because the concept is if you have the financial security to go 00:13:04.308 --> 00:13:06.678 ahead with your treatments, you have a better chance of surviving. 00:13:06.678 --> 00:13:10.248 If you can't afford to do your treatments, you're not going to survive. 00:13:10.638 --> 00:13:12.888 And how does this impact also quality of life? 00:13:13.218 --> 00:13:15.638 So that's one piece of the work we're doing. 00:13:15.688 --> 00:13:18.268 And we have a wonderful principal investigator, Dr. 00:13:18.268 --> 00:13:18.963 Meredith Doherty. 00:13:18.968 --> 00:13:22.008 She's just a master at all this, and she's a scientist. 00:13:22.048 --> 00:13:22.858 I'm not a scientist. 00:13:22.858 --> 00:13:25.908 I'm just a regular person, a regular caregiver. 00:13:26.218 --> 00:13:29.788 But that's kind of like what leads us into the initiative that we started to 00:13:29.788 --> 00:13:35.378 Care Out Loud which is to help caregivers first identify themselves as caregivers. 00:13:35.378 --> 00:13:39.128 Like I didn't even realize that I was a caregiver until I started doing this work. 00:13:39.128 --> 00:13:42.818 I have a 19-year-old son with Down Syndrome and I just 00:13:42.818 --> 00:13:44.708 always thought, oh, I'm mom. 00:13:44.708 --> 00:13:46.328 I'm doing what other moms are doing. 00:13:46.648 --> 00:13:49.528 But I think my refusal of calling myself a caregiver. 00:13:50.633 --> 00:13:52.223 It did no, did me no favors. 00:13:52.223 --> 00:13:57.713 I lost out on support, financial support, resources that I didn't 00:13:57.863 --> 00:14:01.383 bother to look out for 'cause I didn't think I needed them or didn't, I 00:14:01.383 --> 00:14:02.403 didn't think I was entitled to 'em. 00:14:02.403 --> 00:14:03.543 I didn't think they existed. 00:14:03.543 --> 00:14:06.663 So I think it's really important for people to be able to even 00:14:06.663 --> 00:14:09.363 recognize that there are caregivers, that they're not just helping 00:14:09.363 --> 00:14:10.503 out and being a great daughter. 00:14:10.953 --> 00:14:12.493 So we're helping people do that. 00:14:12.493 --> 00:14:16.808 And then we are vetting and curating resources for them. 00:14:16.858 --> 00:14:18.118 You know, we're all so busy. 00:14:18.118 --> 00:14:19.438 Who has the time to vet? 00:14:19.468 --> 00:14:21.298 There's so many resources that are out there. 00:14:21.638 --> 00:14:24.448 But it's just hard to tell, which of the good ones, which are 00:14:24.718 --> 00:14:26.668 reliable, which are up to date. 00:14:26.848 --> 00:14:29.978 And so we do that homework for these caregivers and we just hand the 00:14:30.238 --> 00:14:33.098 to them, kinda like here are the, here's almost like your starter pack. 00:14:33.098 --> 00:14:34.208 You're gonna start somewhere. 00:14:34.208 --> 00:14:37.688 These are not all the resources that are gonna be available to you in your 00:14:37.688 --> 00:14:40.268 lifetime, but this is where, at least a good place that you can start. 00:14:40.268 --> 00:14:42.698 And it covers all aspects of care. 00:14:43.128 --> 00:14:45.828 Yeah, and we're coming from it from really, we just wanna 00:14:45.828 --> 00:14:47.358 be a caregiver's best friend. 00:14:47.358 --> 00:14:49.218 We're not the scientist, we're not the clinician. 00:14:49.218 --> 00:14:52.128 We're gonna give you this information in a way that a best friend would 00:14:52.128 --> 00:14:53.088 give it to their information. 00:14:53.138 --> 00:14:55.988 Oh, hey, I saw this really great jacket on sale that I know that you love. 00:14:55.988 --> 00:14:56.678 Go grab it. 00:14:56.678 --> 00:14:58.983 Is that kind of language and tone and feel. 00:14:59.575 --> 00:15:02.485 Candace Dellacona: I would love to point out, too, that we're three women. 00:15:03.355 --> 00:15:07.275 And  Anneliese, you just said you didn't identify yourself as a caregiver. 00:15:07.275 --> 00:15:09.075 You thought you were just being a mom. 00:15:09.075 --> 00:15:10.275 First of all, just being a mom. 00:15:10.315 --> 00:15:11.695 We have to work on our language. 00:15:11.695 --> 00:15:11.995 Right? 00:15:11.995 --> 00:15:12.715 It's amazing. 00:15:12.805 --> 00:15:16.915 You have three beautiful children and you're, they all have different 00:15:16.915 --> 00:15:20.950 needs and we're all trying to survive. 00:15:20.950 --> 00:15:25.540 But I will say that it is something I think as women that we have a hard 00:15:25.540 --> 00:15:27.670 time doing, which is asking for help. 00:15:28.655 --> 00:15:35.685 And, once we get those offers of help, it's even harder to give up 00:15:36.165 --> 00:15:40.970 the task and perhaps even delegate because we I, and speaking for myself 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:44.940 and I presume you each feel this way, Sheri, you went through it with your 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:47.100 best friends and trying to pitch in. 00:15:47.670 --> 00:15:49.750 I think, it's hard to delegate. 00:15:49.780 --> 00:15:51.100 It's hard to ask for help. 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:53.410 It's hard to even identify yourself as a caregiver. 00:15:53.410 --> 00:15:55.540 So the deck is stacked against us as women. 00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:57.580 Anneliese Barron: Yeah, I agree. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.950 It's like we feel like failures if we have to ask for help. 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:03.590 'cause we see everybody else well, no one else is asking for help. 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:07.400 But what we don't know is that they're all struggling silently at home. 00:16:07.830 --> 00:16:13.075 So podcasts like this, like doing such a great job of, raising awareness. 00:16:13.075 --> 00:16:16.265 Let's talk about, care and how difficult it is. 00:16:16.265 --> 00:16:20.655 It's beautiful, but It's also difficult and it can, it can be a 00:16:20.655 --> 00:16:22.605 very long journey for so many people. 00:16:22.795 --> 00:16:28.115 And the thought of having to shoulder that alone there there's no reason for that. 00:16:28.805 --> 00:16:32.705 We just, we don't feel like we have permission to ask or to talk about 00:16:32.705 --> 00:16:36.915 it, and we just deal with it because we're a mom, a sister, or a friend. 00:16:37.815 --> 00:16:38.325 Candace Dellacona: Exactly. 00:16:38.325 --> 00:16:40.845 And Sheri, I think you're the perfect example of that. 00:16:40.845 --> 00:16:45.405 You are caregiver in action, so you know, probably looking back. 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:51.870 Do you think that there were opportunities that you missed as being essentially 00:16:51.870 --> 00:16:55.620 a defacto, let's say, caregiver for your friends who were like sisters to 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:57.480 you, they were your support network. 00:16:57.880 --> 00:17:01.210 Do you look back and think about how different it may have been if you 00:17:01.210 --> 00:17:03.220 knew of the resources at that time? 00:17:04.065 --> 00:17:07.540 Sheri Biller: Yeah, I wish I could say a lot has changed, but when 00:17:07.540 --> 00:17:11.200 I'm looking at it, it doesn't seem to me that much has changed. 00:17:11.590 --> 00:17:16.720 In fact, I think it's gotten even bigger because when I look at the screen, I see 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:23.805 three intelligent women who all know to go online or to ask for help or try and get 00:17:23.805 --> 00:17:26.055 resources or know how to get resources. 00:17:26.385 --> 00:17:31.245 And this makes me even worry more about the underserved communities 00:17:31.305 --> 00:17:33.105 and communities of color. 00:17:33.345 --> 00:17:36.675 And what about if they don't speak English, and how do we 00:17:36.675 --> 00:17:38.145 get this information to them? 00:17:38.145 --> 00:17:42.105 And it worries me about how alone they all must feel. 00:17:42.525 --> 00:17:48.015 Then we think about how does that explode even bigger, I mean, in rural communities. 00:17:48.015 --> 00:17:51.405 And so this conversation is so critical. 00:17:51.625 --> 00:17:54.655 How do we get it past a certain zip code? 00:17:54.865 --> 00:17:58.885 I imagine that your followers are all within a group, but how do we elevate 00:17:58.885 --> 00:18:00.715 it and get it out to even more people? 00:18:01.335 --> 00:18:05.065 Candace Dellacona: Sheri, that is so important that, we, three of us sit here 00:18:05.065 --> 00:18:08.905 obviously with some level of privilege and I think I applaud you for bringing up 00:18:08.905 --> 00:18:14.765 the fact that, your socioeconomic status unfortunately, has significant impact 00:18:14.765 --> 00:18:18.095 on the type of care that you receive and the support of services that you receive. 00:18:18.755 --> 00:18:24.315 And I think, taking a sort of broader view of what's going on in the world 00:18:24.315 --> 00:18:29.165 right now and the way that perhaps certain governments are run and 00:18:29.165 --> 00:18:33.365 the lack of empathy that seems to be going on in the world at large. 00:18:33.775 --> 00:18:42.625 And then trying to perhaps change a system that is very solidly in place 00:18:42.625 --> 00:18:47.295 in the way that it has been back to when your friends were sick, Sheri. 00:18:47.315 --> 00:18:48.785 And it is. 00:18:48.785 --> 00:18:50.345 It feels really overwhelming. 00:18:50.345 --> 00:18:54.425 But  Anneliese, one of the things that you said that I love is the community piece, 00:18:54.425 --> 00:18:59.135 and we're all sitting at home thinking we're alone in this and we're not. 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:05.360 And so the work that each of your foundations are doing in identifying 00:19:05.360 --> 00:19:07.250 this crisis because it is a crisis. 00:19:07.250 --> 00:19:11.300 If you watch Bradley's documentary again, I'm going to give it a shout out. 00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:13.455 It was beautiful and alarming to me. 00:19:13.465 --> 00:19:13.895 Sheri Biller: Powerful. 00:19:14.015 --> 00:19:14.555 So powerful. 00:19:14.570 --> 00:19:16.250 Candace Dellacona: And absolutely. 00:19:16.250 --> 00:19:18.230 I think the statistics are clear. 00:19:18.590 --> 00:19:21.410 One in four of us are in the sandwich generation. 00:19:21.770 --> 00:19:25.580 We will either need care, give the care, or be the caregiver. 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:29.790 I think Rosalyn Carter eloquently said it much better than I ever could. 00:19:29.790 --> 00:19:35.990 And so having these resources and bringing awareness to foundations like One Family 00:19:36.030 --> 00:19:38.610 and Sheri and Les Your Family Foundation. 00:19:39.210 --> 00:19:41.280 And the good work that you're doing. 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:46.380 And so can we talk a little more about Care Out Loud and perhaps how we can 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:51.460 connect our listeners with Care Out Loud and the initiatives that you have 00:19:51.510 --> 00:19:53.280 going on behind the scenes,  Anneliese? 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:54.630 Anneliese Barron: Yeah, of course. 00:19:54.630 --> 00:19:57.190 Our website is, wecareoutloud.org. 00:19:57.570 --> 00:20:00.225 And then we also just recently launched social media. 00:20:00.245 --> 00:20:01.940 So we're mostly active on Instagram. 00:20:01.945 --> 00:20:04.165 Just like the grassroots way of things. 00:20:04.545 --> 00:20:08.535 And you know what's interesting is that we post different kinds of content 00:20:08.535 --> 00:20:12.345 and the content that we wanna share is very different than the documentary, 00:20:12.345 --> 00:20:14.415 which was long form storytelling. 00:20:14.415 --> 00:20:19.215 These emotional gut wrenching stories that are so important and a lot of the 00:20:19.215 --> 00:20:23.805 history behind how do we get here today, like this caregiving crisis that we're in. 00:20:23.805 --> 00:20:28.335 What decisions, what policies were made decades ago for us to arrive in this 00:20:28.335 --> 00:20:29.475 spot, and where do we need to head? 00:20:29.925 --> 00:20:32.085 So Care Out Loud is the complete opposite. 00:20:32.085 --> 00:20:36.195 It's more for someone who's probably won't watch a documentary or just 00:20:36.195 --> 00:20:37.485 really says, browse in their phone. 00:20:37.485 --> 00:20:39.915 We're, that's what Care Out Loud is for that audience. 00:20:39.915 --> 00:20:42.525 And so we wanna grab people where they are, which is, on their phones. 00:20:42.790 --> 00:20:44.500 So our content is very short. 00:20:45.070 --> 00:20:50.780 Very trying to make it relevant to pop culture, the trends on, social media. 00:20:50.780 --> 00:20:51.830 We try to lean into those. 00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:55.596 But what I was getting at was that the type of content that we post, 00:20:55.596 --> 00:20:59.136 we do a lot of educational posting, like quick actions here's some 00:20:59.183 --> 00:21:01.743 easy ways for you to, do X, Y, Z. 00:21:02.013 --> 00:21:06.263 But we also post a lot of like shareable content, like memes almost kind of 00:21:06.263 --> 00:21:11.701 like, oh, the caregiver's guilt is that spiral is real, and having talking about 00:21:11.751 --> 00:21:15.111 if you've ever cried in the parking lot at Target, you're a caregiver. 00:21:15.231 --> 00:21:18.231 So that kind of content, like bringing a little bit of humor into it, but 00:21:18.231 --> 00:21:21.681 we're seeing the dms that we get and the comments that we're getting. 00:21:21.981 --> 00:21:26.331 It's like people really resonate with that because they're like, they 00:21:26.331 --> 00:21:28.341 feel seen, they feel validation. 00:21:28.341 --> 00:21:30.381 They're like, finally somebody gets it. 00:21:30.381 --> 00:21:34.301 And it reminds us that we need to make caregiving more visible 00:21:34.301 --> 00:21:36.341 because caregivers carry so much. 00:21:36.351 --> 00:21:37.581 We don't get paid for it. 00:21:37.931 --> 00:21:41.171 We're not getting trophies for it, so we need some sort of validation that 00:21:41.171 --> 00:21:44.291 what we're doing is really difficult, but yet we still show up every day 00:21:44.291 --> 00:21:47.681 to do it anyways because we love the people that we're caring for. 00:21:48.401 --> 00:21:51.936 Candace Dellacona: And one of the things Sheri, that you know is very apparent 00:21:52.598 --> 00:21:58.418 with your foundation and talking about supportive care and the emotional and 00:21:58.418 --> 00:22:03.308 practical and spiritual piece of all of that is the concept of leaning out. 00:22:04.028 --> 00:22:08.648 Can you talk a little bit about what leaning out means to you and to the 00:22:08.648 --> 00:22:13.778 foundation and how you encourage caregivers and their families to lean out? 00:22:15.433 --> 00:22:18.418 Sheri Biller: I think one of the things that you mentioned, which I think is 00:22:18.418 --> 00:22:24.788 so important is that this is solvable, but it's gonna take a movement the 00:22:24.788 --> 00:22:28.418 three of us here are a movement, but we need a much bigger movement. 00:22:28.838 --> 00:22:32.798 And so we need for the messaging to get out there and people to 00:22:32.798 --> 00:22:35.048 come together and demand change. 00:22:35.078 --> 00:22:41.618 'cause that is, in this time we, in the time we live in, that's probably the most 00:22:41.618 --> 00:22:43.848 effective way we can get the work done. 00:22:44.663 --> 00:22:50.033 So I invite people to come to the coalition website because they can see 00:22:50.033 --> 00:22:55.213 who all our partners are from all parts of life that are working together to 00:22:55.213 --> 00:22:59.863 get this done, get all the information they need, they can join us and come 00:22:59.863 --> 00:23:01.993 and help us and to get the word out. 00:23:02.343 --> 00:23:05.943 So leaning out has to be leaning out in a big way. 00:23:06.273 --> 00:23:10.683 I think anybody who understands, and no matter who I talk to, as soon as I 00:23:10.683 --> 00:23:15.123 talk about this, everybody understands, needs to pass the information on, 00:23:15.723 --> 00:23:21.013 educate whoever you need to educate and also to give a helping hand. 00:23:22.033 --> 00:23:25.513 Any way we can help anybody it's critical. 00:23:25.993 --> 00:23:31.053 And the other thing we have to do is train the young generation into what it means 00:23:31.053 --> 00:23:36.303 to be a caregiver because every single one of them is going to be a caregiver. 00:23:36.490 --> 00:23:39.910 Candace Dellacona: That is such a beautiful way to summarize what 00:23:39.910 --> 00:23:42.340 your two organizations are doing. 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:45.760 And Sheri, thank you for the reminder that it's more than 00:23:45.760 --> 00:23:47.110 just being there for each other. 00:23:47.110 --> 00:23:51.100 It's demanding that the system change because the current 00:23:51.100 --> 00:23:52.390 system is not sustainable. 00:23:52.390 --> 00:23:57.340 It's not sustainable for patients, the families or the caregivers themselves, 00:23:57.610 --> 00:24:01.090 even the ones who are employed, who are underrepresented and underpaid, 00:24:01.540 --> 00:24:06.480 and, realizing that the system overhaul is needed and it's emergent. 00:24:07.110 --> 00:24:13.460 And I cannot thank the two of you enough for being here and shining a light on 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:18.960 this issue and providing such incredible resources and support, and we're gonna put 00:24:18.990 --> 00:24:22.320 all of this information in our show notes. 00:24:22.800 --> 00:24:27.150 And from the bottom of my heart, as a survivor of the sandwich generation, 00:24:27.150 --> 00:24:30.660 I am so grateful for your time and your expertise and the resources 00:24:30.660 --> 00:24:32.280 that you've used to shine a light. 00:24:32.340 --> 00:24:34.170 So thank you so much for being here. 00:24:35.055 --> 00:24:35.410 Sheri Biller: Thank you for having us. 00:24:35.460 --> 00:24:36.220 Anneliese Barron: Thanks for having us.