Unveiling the Caregiving Crisis: Insights from Katie Kristofic

🎙️ Episode Title: Unveiling the Caregiving Crisis: Insights from Katie Kristofic

Episode Summary

In this episode, Katie Kristofic—founder of Careful List—shares her powerful journey from marketing professional to caregiver advocate after her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Through her personal story, Katie sheds light on the invisible weight carried by caregivers and the systemic challenges they face, from navigating a fragmented healthcare system to enduring the emotional toll of anticipatory grief.

Katie opens up about the loss of her mother and how that pain fueled the creation of Careful List, a trusted hub of vetted caregiving resources and support. She highlights the role of storytelling in connecting caregivers, building awareness, and sparking change around the caregiving crisis.

This conversation is both deeply personal and urgently important—reminding us that caregiving impacts millions, yet remains overlooked. Katie’s insights call for better resources, more honest conversations, and a collective recognition of the caregivers among us.

Key Takeaways

• Caregiving is both emotionally taxing and systemically unsupported.
• Anticipatory grief is a profound yet under-discussed part of caregiving.
• Storytelling is a powerful tool for building community and driving advocacy.
• Careful List offers vetted resources to help caregivers feel less alone.
• Over 53 million Americans are unpaid caregivers—awareness and support are critical.

Related Links

• Careful List Website
• Careful List on Social Media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram (@thecarefullist)
• The Careful List Podcast — available on major platforms

Calls to Action

• Visit the Careful List website for resources and caregiver support.
• Follow Careful List on social media to join the conversation.
• Listen to the Careful List podcast for real caregiver stories and insights.
• Download the Five Wishes document to outline end-of-life care preferences.
• Add your medications and health information to your phone for quick access.

Promotional Quotes

✨ “Today's guest is a storyteller at heart, a fierce caregiver advocate, and the founder of the Careful List, a growing resource hub and support system for caregivers navigating the challenges of caring for aging loved ones.” (00:01)

✨ “I had been percolating on this idea for what I do now for a long time. And I kept thinking somebody else is going to do it. I'm not a tech bro. I didn't go to Harvard. I don't come from a family with millions that I can just play with and start a company.” (20:24)

✨ “Grief is love with nowhere to go. And when you have the ability to create something, when you've had all of these feelings kind of building up and nowhere for them to be, it's very cathartic and people connect to that.” (36:26)

✨ “The caregiving conversation, splitting wide open and people seeing and understanding what is involved and that it's not a media phrase to say that we have a caregiving crisis.” (57:23)

✨ “I wish they knew they had caregivers on their team. They don't know. And the fact of the matter is there are 53 million unpaid caregivers in the United States.” (56:40)