Show notes
What if caregiving wasn’t treated as something you simply have to figure out on your own—but as a health condition deserving education, resources, follow-up, and real support? In this episode, we sit down with nurse, author, advocate, and TEDx speaker Cheryl Field to explore her powerful idea of caregiving as the “missing diagnosis” in our healthcare system.Cheryl challenges us to rethink how healthcare providers support family caregivers and why recognizing caregiving could improve outcomes for both caregivers and the people they love. We talk about caregiver burnout, self-advocacy, building a caregiving team, navigating the healthcare system, and why caregivers need to “own the strategy, but delegate the execution.” Cheryl also takes us behind the scenes of her TEDx experience and shares why sometimes one of the best stress relievers is simply to get up and dance. If you’re a caregiver—or an employer, healthcare provider, HR professional, or manager supporting one—this conversation is one you don’t want to miss.Episode Highlights [1:38] - We welcome Cheryl Field after discovering the TEDx talk that immediately made us say, “We have to have her on the show!”[3:27] - Cheryl shares how 37 years in nursing—and her own experiences advocating for loved ones—led to her mission to transform caregiver support.[7:38] - What would happen if caregiving became a recognized diagnosis? Cheryl explains how it could change healthcare’s entire approach to caregiver education, follow-up, reimbursement, and wellbeing.[12:14] - We explore a simple but powerful question healthcare providers could ask: “Are you a caregiver?”—and why that recognition matters.[16:16] - Zack asks about the tension between loving someone enough to care for them and the very real physical, mental, emotional, and financial toll caregiving can take.[17:34] - Cheryl gives us one of our favorite takeaways: build a team, own the strategy, and delegate the execution. She explains why adding just one person to your caregiving team can make a difference.[22:36] - What are healthcare providers missing about family caregivers? We dig into why caregiving is relentless, chronic, and too often invisible within the healthcare system.[26:50] - Cheryl talks self-advocacy and why each of us has to take an active role in our own health instead of becoming a passive participant in the healthcare system.[29:42] - Selma asks Cheryl to imagine caregiving five or ten years from now. What would a healthcare system truly designed to support caregivers look like?[33:17] - We learn about Cheryl’s book, Prepared! A Healthcare Guide for Aging Adults, and how it helps people prepare for sudden health changes and navigate emergency care, hospitalization, skilled nursing, and the transition back home.[37:28] - Cheryl shares where to follow her work and why she’s focusing on YouTube to make caregiver education easier for seniors and families to access.[38:17] - Thinking about giving a TEDx talk yourself? Cheryl shares her advice—and tells us what really happened after she stepped off that famous red dot.Links & ResourcesCheryl Field Website: www.cherylfield.comCheryl’s TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8vs6_o1HyQYouTube – Cheryl Field Advocate Nurse: https://www.youtube.com/@CherylFieldAdvocateNurseFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.field.18Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564158076135Facebook Group – Caregivers Support Global: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1D8cwLb2o6/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylfield1621/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cefield50/CMS GUIDE Program: https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/guideCheryl’s GUIDE Program Resources & Blog: https://www.cherylfield.com/resources/blogPrepared! A Healthcare Guide for Aging Adults: https://www.cherylfield.com/product/11412255/prepared-a-healthcare-guide-for-aging-adults If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast and leave a review. Remember to check out our website at invisibleemployeeadvocates.com for more resources, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates! We’ll catch you in the next episode.