AlzAuthors Illuminates the Caregiving Path through Story
Submitted by Sheila Luna
Submitted by Sheila LunaEditor for AlzAuthors
AlzAuthors Website
Dementia doesn’t just affect one person—it upends entire families.
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re a caregiver. You are exhausted. Overwhelmed. Looking for someone who gets it. Well, you’ve landed in the right place –AlzAuthors! Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit is hosting an exciting mix of events—including a film festival, book giveaways, book club discussions, poetry readings, and more—to educate caregivers and boost awareness about the diverse and easily accessible support offered through its platform.
Caregiver Journey
Dementia doesn’t just affect one person—it upends entire families. Routines unravel. Roles shift. A loved one gets lost in their mind and disoriented in their own house, while the caregiver gets lost in a digital wilderness, scrolling for solutions. It’s a perfect storm of lost.
Real-Life Caregiver Moments
- Silver Alerts haunt your dreams.
- She believes someone is stealing the toilet paper.
- “Validate and redirect” becomes your daily mantra.
- You scramble to soothe his paranoia.
- People say she’s disappearing, but you know she’s still there—you go where she is.
- He no longer recognizes you, and your heart splits open.
- Yet on the good days—when laughter bubbles up or a gentle squeeze speaks volumes—your heart nearly bursts with joy and new memories are made.
These heart-twisters are familiar to many. Maybe to you, too.
Receiving a dementia diagnosis can be devastating for families. They’re handed a pamphlet and sent home with no roadmap. Who has time to go down the rabbit hole of online information when you’re managing medications, wandering episodes, emotional outbursts, and out-of-the-blue hallucinations? Not to mention the caregiver cornucopia of grief, guilt, exhaustion, stress, and depression.
Who takes care of the caregiver? Who eases their worries? Shows them a new perspective. Makes them laugh. Who ya gonna call? AlzAuthors!
About AlzAuthors
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors who write about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others and to lift the silence and stigma that surround one of the most prevalent diseases of our time. With trusted books and resources, AlzAuthors meets caregivers where they are—at the kitchen table, in the car, or in the anxiety-laced midnight—providing community, comfort, and clarity
Authors Vicki Tapia (Somebody Stole My Iron), Marianne Sciucco (Blue Hydrangeas), and Jean Lee (Alzheimer’s Daughter) each cared for parents with dementia. In 2015, they found one another online and began sharing their stories. What started as a simple book promotion collaboration quickly grew into something altruistic– AlzAuthors.com–a space to amplify caregiving voices and support others on similar paths. Within a year, 60 writers had joined the fold. Fast forward ten years: AlzAuthors is now the largest curated collection of dementia-related literature in the world with nearly 400 authors from six continents! Memoirs, caregiver guides, fiction, children’s books, and poetry are carefully vetted by a devoted team of volunteers, who are authors and caregivers themselves. We also showcase blogs, podcasts, and film.
AlzAuthors Lights the Way for Others – YouTube video
Tools & Resources to Support Your Journey
AlzAuthors is more than a booklist. It is a soft landing spot for those navigating the choppy sea of dementia. At AlzAuthors you’ll find:
- Searchable Library – Easily filter books by genre, relationship, or diagnosis to find what resonates with your unique situation.
- AlzAuthors Blog – Latest posts covering unique first-person insights into caregiving.
- Untangling Alzheimer’s & Dementia Podcast – Hear powerful, personal caregiver stories.
- AlzAuthors Live! – Attend free virtual panel discussions that provide helpful tips, caregiver strategies, and a supportive community.
- Monthly Book Club – Connect with authors and fellow caregivers in meaningful conversations.
- Custom Caregiver Collections – Create curated “mini-libraries” tailored to care groups, memory cafés, or personal needs.
- Weekly Newsletter – Stay in the know about upcoming events, authors, podcasts.
- Caregiver Tip Sheets – Practical advice on communication strategies, coping, understanding the disease process via downloadable e-books compliments of our authors.
“The site kept me company on many a late, anxious night.”
— Rosanne C., USA
The Untangling Alzheimer’s & Dementia Podcast
For overwhelmed caregivers, our podcast is a go-to companion in the pandemonium. With little time and many responsibilities, podcasts can be a saving grace when relaxing with a book feels next to impossible.
Listeners have referred to the podcast as “a lifeline,” “empowering,” and “a beacon of hope.” It offers stress relief, practical guidance, and—most importantly—a sense of not being in this all alone.
Through these podcast episodes, authors educate, raise awareness, and support caregivers through personal storytelling while unpacking the challenges of dementia caregiving. In a recent episode, we conversed with poet Marjorie Maddox (Seeing Things) about the healing power of poetry, the complexities of dementia, and how that line between fiction and reality can blur. She reads several of her poems that reveal fear, vulnerability, and joy. Her grief becomes our grief. In another recent episode, we explore how a dementia diagnosis isn’t necessarily an end—it’s a comma in an ongoing story. When Peter Berry was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 50, he battled a period of darkness. But instead of retreating, he chose to embrace the road ahead—literally and figuratively. With his cycling companion, Deb Bunt, he coauthored Slow Puncture and Walk With Me: Musings Through the Dementia Fog. Berry and Bunt are passionate advocates working to change how society understands ability, resilience, and purpose after a dementia diagnosis.
With almost 150 episodes and 150,000 downloads, the Untangling Alzheimer’s & Dementia podcast ranks in the top 75% of most-followed nationwide. Tune in anytime at alzauthors.com.
Why Storytelling Matters
Sharing our stories makes us stronger! Featured authors impart their stories providing unique perspectives—not just what they went through, but how they got through it. AlzAuthors books and podcasts cover all facets of caregiving from managing finances, family dynamics, medical issues, emotional turbulence, and all caregiver scenarios such as caring for a parent, a spouse, two parents at once. While each person’s journey is different, stories connect us to each other. Talking and writing about dementia and caregiving can help us find little moments of joy no matter how messy life gets.
According to the World Health Organization, someone is diagnosed with dementia every three seconds. While there’s no cure yet, caregivers are learning to thrive—not just survive—thanks to the hard-won wisdom of those who walked before them. Stories help carry that emotional weight and remind us that we’ve got friends on the caregiving path.
“Reading others’ stories made me a stronger, more educated caregiver.”
— Marco, South Africa
Dementia Awareness
Over 55 million people around the world live with dementia—a number projected to rise to 78 million by 2030. More than 60% reside in low- and middle-income areas where access to help is limited or nonexistent. In the United States, approximately 11 million people provide unpaid care for loved ones living with dementia. Most do so without formal training, adequate resources, or emotional support. Anyone who has cared for a parent or spouse with dementia knows it’s often learn-as-you-go. It can be lonely and stressful.
Clearly, there is an urgent need for better awareness and caregiver support systems. That is what we strive to do at AlzAuthors. Through profound stories of hope, AlzAuthors provides a safe harbor for caregivers who might be whispering to themselves, oh my, what’s next.
“Books and podcast episodes reduce stigma and uplift caregivers. These stories need to be heard.”
— Helena P., Australia
Conclusion
Caregiving isn’t just about juggling medication, finances, and physical needs. It is also learning how to lift up the person who is becoming helpless by the day and stopping to notice how they in turn lift and inspire us. It is about growing in love. Sometimes a person with dementia can teach us more about ourselves than any psychologist.
I wished I’d known about AlzAuthors when I was stumbling through the shadows of dementia—caring for my mom who had Alzheimer’s and then my father-in-law with Lewy body. They’ve both passed and, as is human nature, I wish I’d done some things differently. That is why this organization is so vital. Overwhelmed caregivers should bookmark AlzAuthors!
Discover your story in someone else’s.
Visit AlzAuthors.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Submitted by Sheila Luna
Editor for AlzAuthors
AlzAuthors Website
Sheila Luna is an acquisitions editor for AlzAuthors, the global community sharing Alzheimer’s and dementia stories and resources from personal experience to light the way for others. She also serves as a long-term care ombudsman with the Area Agency on Aging in Phoenix, Arizona, advocating for the rights and dignity of residents in care homes.
Through her writing she explores themes of health, illness, ability, and disability—seeking grace in caregiving and inspiration in the midst of loss. Her essays appear in a range of literary journals and magazines.
