Dr. Aaron Blight taps into the minds and hearts of caregivers in support of organizations and families. His passion for supporting caregivers is rooted in his personal experience as a family caregiver; his professional work as the owner of a large home care company and as a leader at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and his study of caregiving as a phenomenon of social science.
Dr. Blight speaks (Virtually & In-Person) to a wide range of audiences, including:
- Professional caregiver groups, including those in healthcare, direct support, long-term care, senior living, home care, hospice, etc.;
- Family caregiver groups, including organizations supporting family caregivers;
- Leaders and managers of care organizations;
- Employers and HR professionals seeking to help employees who have caregiving responsibilities at home;
- General groups interested in the phenomenon of caregiving.
Dr. Blight’s presentations focus on caregiving, caregivers, and the giving/receiving of care. Explore his signature presentations below.
Signature Presentations
Caregivers are usually so busy with the tasks of caregiving that they rarely reflect upon the significance of their activities, including how caring changes their identity: their view of self, their relationships with others, and their place in society. This thoughtful and inspiring presentation draws upon research to explain caregiving as a phenomenon of social science. Knowledge gained from the discussion will offer caregivers a framework for 1) processing their experiences and 2) developing the resilience needed to continue supporting the people who depend on them.
Audience: All Caregivers
As a family caregiver, do you adhere to a fixed mindset, or have you adopted a growth mindset? This presentation shows how mindset adjustments are among the most important ways for you to effect positive change in your caregiving experience. Mindset adjustments reside at the heart of The Caregiver Mindshift Model, which depicts cognitive stages that loosely align with one’s length of experience in family caregiving. The Caregiver Mindshift is a process of learning, growing, and adapting to the emerging circumstances associated with your loved one’s health condition.
Audience: ALL CAREGIVERS
How can your organization find and keep the best care professionals in an increasingly competitive labor market? The answer lies in 1) acquiring a deeper understanding of the lived experience of your employees and then 2) aligning your organization’s HR efforts in the most commensurate way. This moving presentation breaks down caregiving into four component parts and reviews implications for the employment of care professionals.
Audience: Medical, Health, Long Term Care, Social Care, Home Care Providers
People who are caregivers usually offer themselves to others with little thought of recognition or reward. However, it’s important for caregivers to know that in addition to caring for others, they must also take care of themselves. This compelling presentation emphasizes the giving and receiving of care – not only for others but also for oneself – as imperatives for wellness.
Audience: All Caregivers
Today’s workforce crisis makes it vitally important for leaders of care organizations to strengthen their recruitment and retention efforts. Rather than delivering a list of workforce management tactics, this presentation offers a paradigm view of organizational culture that is anchored in research and targeted to the context of caregiving providers. Leaders will learn how to assess their organizational culture and initiate culture-related changes to produce greater job satisfaction among their care professionals.
Audience: MEDICAL, LONG-TERM CARE, HOME CARE, HOSPICE, AND DIRECT SUPPORT PROVIDERS
Did you know that 42% of American workers have cared for aging or disabled loved ones at home within the last five years? When your employee is caregiving off the job, it can affect work performance. This workshop is designed to help employers and employees better understand the phenomenon of caregiving and what they can do for support.
Audience: EMPLOYER GROUPS
Caregiver stress is a frequent and real outcome of devoting yourself to ongoing care for your loved one. In this presentation, we will examine the nature of caregiver stress, explore how stress leads to burnout, and review strategies for stress reduction that will produce improved well-being for caregivers. Knowledge gained from the presentation will help caregivers recognize the impact of stress in their personal situations and learn how to cope more effectively.
Audience: ALL CAREGIVERS
Most caregivers are not innately endowed with the ability to deliver tasks of care, but they can grow into an emerging caregiver role. A care receiver’s evolving health conditions prompt caregivers to formulate responses which are appropriate for their ever-changing circumstances. As caregivers adjust to changes, they unconsciously develop an improved capacity to serve. This presentation raises consciousness of caregiver development, and can accelerate caregiver growth, by focusing on the learning process inherent in caregiving.
Audience: ALL CAREGIVERS
Demographic changes and medical advances have brought us to a new era in the history of the world: we now live in a time when the old outnumber the young. As these societal trends continue, it has become critical for everyone to prepare for aging and caregiving in later life. This presentation helps by reviewing a typology of elders and exploring the dynamics of caregiving for older adults.
Audience: GENERAL AUDIENCES
For Event Professionals
We have developed a number of resources that you will find helpful as you plan your event. Here, you will find images, bio content, and more — all created around Dr. Blight’s work that can help as you build messaging for the event you’re planning.
Caregiver Support Groups
A visit with Dr. Blight will allow caregiver support group participants to engage in a meaningful discussion about their caregiving experiences. Caregivers will have the opportunity to read the book written especially for them, share feelings and insights, and learn from one another during an exchange facilitated by the author.
Caregiving Kinetics has been honored to work with organizations across the nation:
Citi
Hallmark
Well Spouse
SCHCHA
Quest Diagnostics
McKesson Canada
Missouri Alliance for Home Care
Home Instead
Home Care Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire
Home Care Association of New York State
Elderbridge Agency for Aging
Duet Partners in Health & Aging
Cornerstone VNA
CareAcademy
Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's
Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire
AstraZeneca
Assisting Hands Home Care
Arlington Virginia
American Society on Aging
American Ambulance Association
AEMRN
Area Agency on Aging of the Panhandle
Touching Hearts
Mystic Valley Elder Services
Baltimore County Department of Aging
Northern Virginia Dementia Care Consortium
