Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers
In her book, Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers, Rosalynn Carter, the wife of Jimmy Carter, the former President of the United States, provides a personal and informative guide for caregivers in their challenging tasks of caring for the severely ill and disabled. Carter is able to provide an empathetic and personal perspective to this issue because she has also experienced the difficulties and challenges of caregiving in her younger years. During her adolescence, Carter's father was afflicted with leukemia and died half a year later, leaving Carter, her sister and two younger brothers in the care of her mother (Carter 16-8). After her husband's death Carter's mother had to work in a variety of jobs in order to raise her family and take care of her ailing father-in-law (Carter 19-22). Carter's mother, who is still living, serves as a personal inspiration for Carter in her work to improve the lives of caregivers in the U.S.
Through her participation in the Governor's Commission to Improve Services to the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped while her husband was governor of Georgia, Carter began her "formal education about the problems of those suffering from mental illnesses" (Carter 25). As the First Lady, she joined in the government's effort to address the problems of health care for the mentally ill and the elderly (Carter 25-8). Since her departure from the White House, Carter has continued her efforts in the field of caregiving by establishing the Rosalynn Carter Institute of Georgia Southwestern College. With this institute, Carter has initiated programs for helping formal and informal caregivers. Furthermore, by sponsoring annual conferences and doing research, her institute has brought people from all walks of life together in order to explore the problems of caregiving (Carter 36-7). Therefore, with her extensive experience in the field of caregiving,...