Joan Jackson of Balanced Abundant Living to be Featured on Close Up Radio

UPPER MARLBORO, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — With an aging population of baby boomers, it is important to be proactive as opposed to reactive regarding the care of family members – “to put things in place now”, as stated by our guest. Even more important is to know what resources are available. One woman learned through her years of research, personal experience, and volunteer work, the many options when it comes to finding the best care. She now desires to share that knowledge with caregivers locally, nationally, and globally. This is the story of Joan Jackson.

Joan Jackson is the founder and content creator of the website Balanced Abundant Living. Balanced Abundant Living provides consulting services, information resources, e-products, and speaking engagements, all related to family caregivers, and their loved ones.

“Launched in the fall of 2020, my business is geared primarily for baby boomers and those of Generation X, as they make up the bulk of caregivers in this country,” summarizes Joan. “I offer each client informational resources and referral services tailor-made to their specific needs as a caregiver. I want to emphasize the importance of knowledge and the resources that are available. I can meet with them if they are in the Washington, DC area, or remotely work with them via Zoom or GoTo Meeting, if they are in another area.”

“My personal experience is that my husband and I were long distance caregivers,” recalls Joan. “When my 80-year-old dad needed help, at the time we lived on the west coast, and he lived on the east coast. We got a call from one of my father’s close neighbors saying that he had gotten rear-ended by a school bus. The accident was so bad that it fractured his rib and collapsed his lung. We had to drop everything and fly out to Washington, DC, to put things quickly in order. We endured a 4½ day trip across country in a rented vehicle back to California, so that he could live with us. After three years, we finally relocated to Maryland. My husband realized that we needed respite care from a non-medical in-home care company so that we could catch our breath and get acclimated to our new environment. It was also discovered that my dad had terminal cancer, which no one knew about. He died nine months after we moved to Maryland.”

“My background is that I am a retired reference librarian with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Marquette University, and a Masters of Library and Information Science from Simmons College Boston – now Simmons University,” recalls Joan. “In addition to having worked for several public libraries and a law firm library, I also worked in IT. With all this, I have a passion for research and providing good, credible, vetted information. When my husband and I moved to the Washington, DC area from California, I had a franchise for a non-medical in-home care business, where I hired certified nursing assistants to care for people in their homes.”

“Also, I went and vetted various local assisted living homes for families who were interested in placing their loved ones in a safe, 24/7 environment outside of the home,” adds Joan. “I helped put them in touch with resources on the local and national level.” After dissolving that business, her passion for helping seniors and their caregivers remains. This, of course manifested itself into Balanced Abundant Living.”

As part of her role at Balanced Abundant Living, Joan holds a number of memberships to several local and national organizations specializing in providing resources for senior care. They include memberships in the National Aging in Place Council, Prince George’s Senior Provider Network, and Anne Arundel Senior Provider Group. She is also a Certified Senior Advisor through the Society for Certified Senior Advisors.

One of the tools that Joan sells to caregivers on her website is an e-book titled The Family Caregiver Respite Care Toolkit. Formatted as a PDF file, it asks important questions surrounding care and provides links to local and national resources. In conjunction with the e-book, The Stressed Family Caregiver, is a free checklist designed to encourage caregivers to make certain that they are also taking care of themselves to avoid burnout. “Self-care is not selfish,” asserts Joan.

On her website, Joan also offers speaking services and workshops. Tailored to the specific needs of companies and organizations, Joan offers presentations to educate individuals about services related to seniors, aging-in-place, and family caregiving.

Through her knowledge and expertise of caregiving resources, she has benefitted the community. For instance, she started a family caregiver support group in her church. In addition, on behalf of the Prince George’s Senior Providers Network, of which she is a member, she will go to different events and provide printed resources to attendees. Also, half the proceeds earned through her business get donated to various charities. “While I am in business to make money, it’s not all about the money,” explains Joan. “That is my goal for this business – to give back to the community.”

“Be proactive and not reactive in being a family caregiver,” concludes Joan. “Have the necessary informational resources in your information toolbox. Just like planning for your financial future, planning for either being a caregiver or being the recipient of caregiving is something that seriously needs to be considered, and acted upon as early as possible. Plan for not IF you will need help, but WHEN you need help. Seek out resources. Don’t panic and don’t do it alone.”

Close Up Radio will feature Joan Jackson in an interview with Jim Masters on Tuesday October 10th at 10am Eastern

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guest, please call (347) 996-3389

For more information, please visit https://balancedabundantliving.com/

Lou Ceparano
Close Up Television & Radio
+1 631-850-3314
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