Welcome to Season 8, Episode 15 of Healing Ties 2.0, 30 podcasts in 30 days celebrating National Family Caregivers month featured on the Whole Care Network. In this episode we are delighted to visit Dr. Elliot Montgomery Sklar from Nova Southeastern University on a topic we are both passionate about: LGBT Seniors and their Caregivers.
Dr. Sklar is an associate professor in the Department of Health Science at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and has worked as an educator, researcher, and leader of community-based health programs in the US and Canada for over 15 years. Dr. Sklar teaches a wide range of courses in health science, and supports caregivers through innovative programs that he leads for the Wellmed Charitable Foundation.
Listen in and learn how Dr. Sklar is creating Healing Ties all around us!
You Might Know Me As The Bow Tie Guy - "Wearing a bow tie is like wearing two smiles."
When people ask me, "why did you create the Whole Care Network"... I always come back to our caregiving experience and how fortunate I was to find resources that helped me and my partner Richard Schiffer manage our caregiving journey. Every caregiver has a story; through our stories, we find validation, resources, and respite to help manage our caregiving day.
We were fortunate to have our story chronicled in a 2015 Pulitzer Prize-nominated 3-part story, “In Sickness and In Health: A Couple’s Final Journey,” which told our journey of caregiving. The story told of the challenges LGBT partners have in dealing with the medical and legal system, but it also told of the love and joy my partner Richard's last years had on our relationship.
