Her seven-part series for the San Francisco Examiner, "The Caregivers" (April 2-9, 1995), grew out of her desire to turn her despair into a way to help others. Its mandate was to create a compassionate portrait of this family crisis in an aging society.
Her year-long investigation into the growing phenomenon of adult children caring for aging parents resulted in a Pulitzer Prize nomination and many awards, including the National Hospice Organization, Pew Charitable Trusts, American Legion Auxiliary, Society of Professional Journalists, and many regional and local social service organizations.
McLeod's commitment to helping family caregivers negotiate the complex medical, legal, and health care systems has grown into a writing and lecturing career that includes publication in April 1999 of Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal by John Wiley & Sons.
She has written for Family Circle, SELF, Good Housekeeping, and The Noetic Sciences Review, and publishes a twice-monthly column, "Focus on Aging," for The San Francisco Examiner's Peninsula section.
McLeod has delivered seminars and keynote addresses across the country and appeared on a journalists' panel for the American Society on Aging that aired on C-SPAN in 1998. She has appeared on television and radio.
Email Beth Witrogen McLeod our support department about caregiving or visit her Forum discussion.
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