Healthcare to Homecare
Helping Families Bridge the Gap
from Healthcare
to Homecare
Hi, Welcome to Healthcare to Homecare!
Over the 30+ years I’ve been a caregiver, it feels like I’ve spent 25% of that time searching for information. Time, I didn’t have.
I created Healthcare to Homecare in response to that lost time and my frustration with changes occurring in healthcare delivery systems. Between being a caregiver, my training as a registered nurse, and my 28-year tenure in a leadership role at a major healthcare organization, I have gained extensive knowledge about the healthcare industry from multiple perspectives. Combining that knowledge and experience gives me unique insight into how to find resources and address problems that arise between families and the complex world of healthcare. While I would like to say that healthcare is moving in a direction that supports family caregivers more, I see the opposite occurring. Therefore, I feel a website like Healthcare to Homecare (HTH) can be a great timesaver and resource for both new and experienced caregivers.
I hope you find that to be true. Donna
Discover What Healthcare to Homecare Has to Offer
Below are links to the primary resource pages offered on HTH. Click on the Subject Title to go directly to that resource section. Healthcare to Homecare provides a comprehensive range of medical information and resources of interest to caregivers.
Caregiving
Helpful information on caregiving fundamentals covering topics from emotional adjustment to financial impact, applying for assistance, adapting your home, and more.
Healthcare Systems
Learn to speak the foreign language of healthcare. Find out how healthcare systems operate, who’s who among healthcare roles, regulatory requirements you can use to your advantage, how to speak up, and other essential topics.
Medical
Learn how to perform home care procedures through links to online resources or guidelines presented in posts. Easy-to-understand explanations of medical terms, including how to read lab values and understand radiology reports, are included.
Mental Health
Many individuals have both medical and mental health conditions. Caregivers need to know how to deal with both. This section provides that help.
Caregiving Perspective
From 2011-2019 Donna wrote blogs about her experience as a wife/caregiver of someone with primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Her posts originally appeared on her own site, MSCaregiverSharing, and later, as a contributor for multiplesclerosis.net. Donna is reposting those blogs as part of the support she wants to offer new caregivers, in the belief that they will be able to relate to those same feelings and find comfort in knowing they are not alone. She invites caregivers to share their experiences by submitting their stories to her to post.
Care Receivers
Being on the receiving end of the care given, you may not be able to voice your opinion openly to your caregiver. If you would like to share your thoughts or express other views about caregiving or being a care recipient, HTH invites you to submit your ideas to this website for consideration as a post. Submission details are available by clicking on the Care Receiver heading above.
Connections and Marketplace
Connections provide growth opportunities for caregivers to learn and receive support. At the same time, Marketplace serves as a platform that connects caregivers to products and services tailored to their needs.
My Beliefs
For 18 years, I watched my husband struggle with primary progressive multiple sclerosis until he died in 2024. During that time, I called on God countless times to give me the strength to take one more step, put on one more smile, or stand up for his protection one more time. Even though I was so numb most of the time, I could not feel God’s presence; I knew he was there. He was there in the night, telling me I wasn’t alone. He held my hand as I waited to hear the bad news that the faces had already shared. I could not have survived those years without God’s presence, which is why I’ve added My Beliefs to “About Me.” If you don’t know Jesus, I hope you will read through this section and discover more about how He helped me during those difficult times. I hope that He can help you find that same comfort.
Compassion Ministry
I also encourage churches to explore the Compassion Ministry section. Our country is in desperate need of finding a sense of “community” again. Even more than that, our culture has lost the knowledge of who God is and how He intended the world to be when He created it. Changes in healthcare provide the church with an opportunity to demonstrate to our neighbors the love of Jesus in action. Families are broken and in crisis. There is no one at home to care for people sent away to heal, home alone without family, contacts, or knowledge of what to do. Information from Compassion Ministry can help your church reach out to assist those in your community in meaningful ways. It can make a difference, tangibly revealing God’s presence. Please review the Compassion Ministry section and contact me if you would like to discuss it further. God Bless.
