Caregiving.com At A Glance
Mission: Caregiving.com provides solutions to situations in a family caregiver’s life. We also shares insights, information and inspirations so that family caregivers discover the meaning in their journeys.
Founded: Caregiving.com was founded in 1996 by Denise M. Brown in the corner of her bedroom in her parents’ home. The first generation of the site debuted as a personal page on Prodigy (a now defunct online service) in March 2006. The success of the personal page prodded Denise to secure the domain name, Caregiving.com, on August 3, 1996.
Caregiving.com was originally an off-shoot of Caregiving! newsletter, a monthly print publication produced by Denise from January 1995 until April 2005.
Highlights: One of the first online support groups for family caregivers was introduced on Caregiving.com in the fall of 1996. By 2000, the site featured 11 online support groups and a book club.
Denise hosted a radio show, The Caregiving Journey, that aired in the Chicagoland area from 1998 until 1999. She relaunched the program as Your Caregiving Journey on BlogTalkRadio in May 2008. The show airs live on Monday evenings at 9 p.m. Central. Archived shows are available on Caregiving.com and on BlogTalkRadio.com/Caregiving.
The web site was listed as one of the best resources on the Internet for family caregivers by Modern Maturity magazine (May/June 1997), the publication of American Association of Retired Persons, and as a resource for seniors in Business Week magazine. In addition, the site was chosen as a “Hot Site” by USA Today Online on April 1, 1998. Hot sites exhibit something remarkable in content, according the USA Today Online.
Its online support groups were listed as one of four coping resources for family caregivers for the companion web site of The Forgetting, a 90-minute documentary which aired nationally in January 2004, at pbs.org. The other resources were Mayo Clinic, AARP and Washington University in St. Louis.
In January 2009, Caregiving.com debuted a new design. Its mission is to become the destination for family caregivers to read interesting and informative content; learn about new services and products; meet and share with other family caregivers; and engage in meaningful and insightful discussions about the caregiving lifestyle.
Visitors: Visitors to Caregiving.com provide care to family members and friends.
Media Contact: Denise M. Brown, 773-343-6341
Press coverage:
Smartmoney.com: Help for small business owners in a caregiving role.
USA Today: Insights about caregiving choices.
Orlando Sentinel: A look into online support groups
Time magazine: Determining who cares for an aging relative
Resources:
