In a powerful blending of memoir and practical strategies from a medical doctor’s perspective, The Gift of Caring: Saving Our Parents – and ourselves - from the Perils of Modern Healthcare reveals the hidden side of modern healthcare practices for aging Americans. This ground-breaking book, co-written by award-winning author Marcy Houle and nationally-recognized geriatrician and public health advocate, Elizabeth Eckstrom MD MPH, sheds new light on aging by showing it from twin perspectives: the story of a daughter desperately seeking help for the parents she loves, and a geriatrician who offers life-changing strategies that can protect our loved ones and ourselves. Today, for many older adults, the medical delivery system is confusing, fragmented, and ill-equipped to provide comprehensive, person-centered care. Under our current healthcare model, thousands of aging persons face unnecessary suffering, hospitalizations and nursing home stays, and even preventable death.   Seniors and families often feel powerless as they travel this sad journey. Not having knowledge of aging’s changes, they resign themselves to believing there is nothing anyone can do to help, while some health care professionals simply write off symptoms seniors endure as “just old age.”   But as Marcy Houle discovered in caring for her parents, many of the problems often are not “just old age.” Further, the real issue is not that the answers to ease suffering don’t exist. Rather, what we need to know is generally not available to the general public. Even more concerning, many health care professionals have had little or no training in the care of older adults.   The Gift of Caring hopes to change that.  It is written to give empowerment to all older adults, family members, and health care professionals, by sharing much needed knowledge and practical strategies. The Gift of Caring shows the best ways to advocate for our parent’s health care … and our own … by giving us the tools we need to insist upon the better way. Your parents and you deserve the best healthcare as you age- But there are so many reasons why that’s not happening.You can change that.

". .. .Eckstrom comes across as knowledgeable, clear and compassionate — the provider everyone's mother should have. Yet few of us will find someone similarly informed. .. .In fact, this is a book for everyone — if not this moment, then eventually. It will be a book to keep handy when the elderly in your life become frail; and beyond that, when you yourself begin to forget things and wonder if it's the onset of dementia or when the pill bottles begin to gather by the side of your bed. Reading this just might be the best preventative medicine you can find." - The Oregonian

"Houle’s story will resonate emotionally with anyone who has cared for a parent or older relative. It also offers a practical guide for readers who are care-giving now and who want to give their loved ones the gift of good care.- SeniorAdvisor.com" - Senior Advisor

"'This is a book for everyone- if not this moment, then eventually. It will be a book to keep handy when the elderly in your life become frail; and beyond that, when you yourself begin to forget things and wonder if it’s the onset of dementia or when the pill bottles begin to gather. Reading this just might be the best preventive medicine you can find. '" - The Oregonian

"Must Have Book for Caregivers. .. .This book has a really interesting approach. Marcy Cottrell Houle – a professional writer – writes a memoir about caring for her Dad with Alzheimers and her frail mother. The story is interspersed with expert advice from Dr. Eckstrom that the author wishes she had known about avoiding pitfalls in our modern healthcare system. It’s new and definitely will serve you well." – Anne Tumlinson - Daughterhood.org