Building Hero Generation: How Tech is Empowering Today's Caregivers with Nicole àBeckett and Dr. Shruti Roy - Episode 79

In this powerful episode of the Caregiver Relief Podcast, Diane speaks with Nicole àBeckett and Dr. Shruti Roy, the inspiring co-founders of Hero Generation—a digital platform designed by caregivers, for caregivers. They share their deeply personal caregiving stories, the emotional and logistical challenges they faced, and how those experiences inspired them to build a solution that combines AI, community, and collaboration tools.

Together, they explore:

• The realities of caregiving in today’s healthcare system
• How Hero Generation helps families manage hospital discharges, medical tasks, and daily responsibilities
• The power of anticipatory grief and self-reflection
• How AI (through their assistant “Andrea”) offers 24/7 empathetic support
• Ways to build a care team and ask for help—without guilt

Whether you're a new caregiver or deep in the journey, this conversation will leave you feeling seen, supported, and hopeful for what technology can do to lighten the load.

🔗 Learn more and try Hero Generation for free: www.herogen.co

📢 Visit community.caregiverrelief.com to join the conversation

Podcast Episode Transcript

Diane: Welcome to the Caregiver Relief Podcast, where we shine a light on the unsung heroes of caregiving and explore innovative ways to support them.

Today we're diving into how technology is transforming the caregiving journey, especially for the sandwich generation, juggling careers, children, and the care of aging loved ones. And I'm thrilled to welcome Nicole àBeckett and Dr. Shruti Roy, the powerhouse duo behind Hero Generation, a modern digital platform built by caregivers for caregivers combining AI community and collaborative tools.

Hero generation is helping families navigate hospital discharges long to-do lists and critical care decisions with more confidence and support. Both Nicole and Dr. Roy bring deeply personal experience as caregivers to their work. And today they'll share their story behind hero generation and how they're re-imagining what it means to be supported during life's most challenging transition.

So let's jump in. Welcome ladies. I'm really excited to have you here.

Nicole: Oh, that was amazing. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for having us.

Diane: I am, as I was telling you, saying to you earlier, and I want the audience to know how amazing it is that, so many that have gone through their caregiving journey are filling needs that we desperately have as we face the silver tsunami coming our way.

So I'm very impressed and proud of both of you, in taking the chance at developing this product. So you experienced the challenges of caregiving early on. Can you each share a moment from your personal caregiving journeys that has shaped the creation of hero generation?

Nicole: Absolutely. So again, Diane, we're so happy to be able to share our story. Thank you for creating this space for caregivers. 'cause I think we all know that a lot of times caregivers feel isolated and sit in silence when there are actually so many of us out there. So thank you. First off. So I'm Nicole. I'll start with my story.

I was 19 when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, and we actually were very fortunate in that he lived 15 years with it. So I was able to go through my twenties and, you know, live a pretty normal life. My mom was really his primary caregiver. However, in the end when he, elected to stop his chemo and stop his treatment and really understood that the end was near, it was sort of all hands on deck and I have a.

Long career, 20 year career in startups and in technology. And so when he was, entering that phase and we were dealing with hospice versus palliative care and what are, if he has some sickness, do we go to the ER? What are these questions? In addition to so many family members, my dad was one of eight siblings, so, so many family members that wanted to help and be there and be supportive.

As you could imagine, it was overwhelming. And by the way, I was six months pregnant. So as you can imagine, that time was incredibly stressful. My mother who had long dealt with a chronic lung disease, I was supporting her, but she was really his primary caregiver. That was 2015 and I was looking for something that could help me organize all the information that was coming hard and fast and or a place where I could get answers or community.

And I just didn't really find anything that suited my needs. And so, my dad ended up passing in the end of 2015 and. Just kind of went on with life as we do. And fast forward a few years, my mom's lung disease took a really, really bad turn and I needed to provide more acute care for her. I was, in and out of emergency room hospital stays.

She ended up having to have a pump. So suddenly I'm. Helping out with subcutaneous, needle injections and for her pump and, all of this crazy new world that we, caregivers are thrown into suddenly with no training. My background is in business, my background's in technology, it was again, just another sort of.

Gut punch into, okay, this is the new normal and you've gotta learn. And so I was looking again for something that could support me and do the exact same thing that I was looking for just a few years earlier. And I didn't find anything. And I supported my mom for a few years and she passed in 2021.

So, it took me a minute to get through all of that and, and you know, it was a couple years later that I decided, look, something needs to be done for caregivers, in a way that I felt wasn't being a need, that wasn't being met in terms of giving them a place to organize information, to collaborate with.

The team, the family that always says, how can we help? What can we do to help? You can give them a way to help easily in addition to finding resources when you need them and community. And so, the genesis of Hero Generation really started a long time ago, but was put, into motion, I would say in late 2023, early 2024.

And then I was introduced to Shruti who. Has her own story to bring to it, and so I'll stop there and Shruti tell her story.

Shruti: Thank you Nicole. So, yes, my caregiving journey. So that started for me last year in the beginning of 2024. My dad had spent a few months abroad, as he does every year. And then he came back and it was almost like looking at a different person. He had been having tremors difficulty doing all his daily activities.

We saw a bunch of different doctors for him and eventually he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. My mom and dad live about three blocks away from me, and I knew that this diagnosis would be tough, but I also knew that my mom was healthy and she was going to be able to take care of him, and I was going to be there along the way to help in every way that I could.

But however, five weeks after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, my mom broke her hip and she had to be hospitalized, and then she just had some complications afterwards. So I really became the primary caregiver for both of them, and I still am today. And I remember one of the hardest moments for me was when I walked into her hospital room and the nurse told me that she was going to be discharged that day, and it kind of came out of the blue.

I wasn't prepared for that to happen. I needed to get everything ready in my house for, things like her shower bench, her toilet commode, her wheelchair, a wheelchair ramp. I mean, the list went on and on and that day. Went to the bathroom, sat in one of the hospital bathroom stalls and just cried.

And I thought to myself, I am a physician. I should be, I should have been prepared for this. I should have been able to do this. But even with my medical background

Shruti: It was so, so hard that I couldn't even imagine how someone without a medical background was all of a sudden put in this position. And so I'm still a caregiver for them today.

And still going through the motions of how hard it is doing that with a medical career and raising three children. But that's my story.

Diane: I hear your stories every day. I've been a nurse for 72 years and what has happened to our healthcare has, it's so broken, and now the family caregivers responsible for tasks and things that were once provided strictly by.

Healthcare professionals, the nurses, the therapist, et cetera. And it doesn't surprise me that you're a doctor and you weren't prepared for any of this because unless you're in a hospital on a regular basis, you're not exposed to this. And that social worker that you had when you were told all these things, or the discharge planner actually let you down because they should be giving you several days notice to get.

That stuff in place and they should be ordering it and taking care of all that stuff. So that disappoints me, but it's, I, we're seeing so many unsafe discharges from home right now. That's why I'm excited about your product because, or your platform, because it's desperately needed. So what do you specifically think that was missing from your own experiences, caregivers that really felt you compelled to build into the hero generation?

Nicole: I mean, I think that for me, I'm so grateful for the medical care that both of my parents received. It was phenomenal. Both, like I said, my dad lived with cancer for 15 years through the amazing medicine. His amazing doctors, his amazing nurses. And then same with my mom. I was just.

Over like, and it was amazing the treatment she was getting, the new therapies, et cetera. I think the thing that was missing, both for, with my dad's case, it was for my mom and then in my mom's case for me, is that each one of us were at every single one of their appointments. I went to a lot of my dad's appointments too.

And then especially with my mom and. Not once was any, did anybody turn to me or hand me information to say, how are you doing? You are a critical part of her care, of her health. What support do you need? Or, here is some support and that is not in any way an indictment on the doctors and nurses and the medical staff because I know everyone is so overwhelmed with just the way that our healthcare system is today.

But again, that's where we see such an incredible opportunity to support, the caregivers and why we wanted to create hero gen and we wanna be in those hospitals at the point, At should this point, right. When she's

Diane: Yes.

Nicole: Having to be discharged or even a days before here, here's a platform where you can start to organize things, where you can start to ask questions.

We just feel like that is such a critical juncture and like, I think we all know. Caregivers are such an important part of the healthcare that the loved ones receive. And we can make it so much better that I think that's when we start addressing not just the patient, but also the caregiver that's with them.

We just make it such a more holistic, healthcare. We're providing healthcare on such a more holistic level. So that's really what we wanna, we hope to achieve in our mission with hero generation.

Diane: That's the biggest thing caregivers tell me is they feel invisible and ignored and not included as part of the care team.

So I created this course, how to become a Patient Care Advocate, and in it I tell them how to create a care team partner approach, which, helps. People get a team together to support them, not just one person, but I actually tease and say, Hey, you wanna be part of the team? Get a little creative and get a lab coat, go to the Goodwill, get a lab coat, wear it, and take a clipboard with you, and all of a sudden you're gonna get treated differently.

And you won't be ignored.

Nicole: Oh, wow.

Diane: So I know that's silly, but we have to do something because the caregivers are the ones that know what's happening. To the, patient and they know I have been in rooms with family members and friends that openly and blatantly lied to the doctor about what they were doing.

Nicole: Oh my gosh.

Diane: I mean, seriously. Yes. I'm taking my meds. Yes, I'm doing this therapy. And they weren't doing any of those things. And when I tried to interject, well, that's not true. I was told to be quiet.

Shruti: Mm.

Diane: I was like, are you kidding me?

Nicole: Yeah.

Diane: It's frustrating. It is very,

Nicole: it's complex, right? I mean,

Diane: oh, it seriously is you now, Dr. Roy, would you explain what you're going through now and what you still feel that may it's missing. I know you see it all now that you've got the, your platform.

Shruti: Yes. So I would say the platform's really helped me with like the creating a team and doing my to-do list and and kind of assigning that out.

I'm more comfortable asking for help now. What I would say. Today what's really what I'm struggling with is the balance between, so my dad is not doing as well as I would hope, his Parkinson's is actually progressing, quite rapidly. And so I think what I'm missing a lot is me grieving him and even though he's alive and I see him every day.

I haven't really taken the time because of the to-do lists and things to grieve as much as I think that I probably could. And for sure the platform has helped me get more time back to myself and I think I need to actively use that time to start grieving, thinking of the memories, thinking about what I wanna keep with me, and making certain decisions about his healthcare.

Kind of balancing all of that stuff.

Diane: That's a really good point. One of the things that caregivers don't realize is it's called anticipatory grief. And you start grieving the loss of your loved one while you're providing care. And, the other thing that I love, love, love about your platform is the team approach.

Because one of the things I've learned with my 52 years of nursing, and I was guilty of this when I was younger as well, is. You don't, you feel as if you're a failure if you ask for help from others?

Shruti: Yes.

Diane: And the caregivers really do. And caregiving is the most guilt producing role you'll ever take on.

And it is, and caregivers are good about the. I call it the martyr approach or they feel like they're a victim at times, and they just need to be able to have a way to ask for help where they don't feel like they're gonna put themselves and be rejected or disappointed because so many families have.

And it's the majority of family caregivers do all the care themselves with very little support, and they have uninvolved siblings and extended family members that will judge them and be harsh to them about the care they're providing unpaid care at that. Right.

Diane: And, expect so much from them, so. I love that your platform has that ability. I really,

Shruti: yeah.

Diane: Because it's easier when you're not looking at somebody face to face

Shruti: mm-hmm.

Diane: To say, Hey, can you do this?

Nicole: Yeah. What we found when we were, we did a lot of surveys before we developed hero generation, just to make sure we were, we knew what we knew from our experience.

But we wanted to make sure that, we were hitting, the wide majority of experiences. And so what we found was that. People do want to help, but sometimes like, exactly like you said, Diane, there's that primary caregiver who has the brain trust. They have all the knowledge in their head about who the doctors are, where the pharmacy is, what the medications are.

And oftentimes, like in my situation, my brother was very helpful. I. He lived in a different city, but not too far. He could come help. But the next guy said, can you take mom to the doctor? And he's like, okay. Well the next question was, okay, where's the doctor? What's, what do I need to like tell them? What do you know? And no fault of his own. It's just 'cause I'm there, I know everything. And I'm like, you know what? It's okay. It's just easier if I just do it. So what we wanted to create in hero generation is to take all of that knowledge and information that's just trapped in your head.

Put it into the platform and instead of then having to say, okay, here it is, it's in, I sent you a text message. I did this. I did. It's in hero generation. And they can go in and the loved one's profile, you have the insurance right there. You've got the doctor's name right there, the location, you've got the current medications right there.

All of it is so easy so that you don't feel like if you do ask somebody to do something, then there's gonna be like the eight different follow-up questions and it's just gonna create more work for you. Because we think, often that was the issue. And so now when somebody says, what can I do to help?

I'll add you to hero generation. There's either a list in there and you can go pick things or I can assign you just pick up groceries. Buy that thing off Amazon. Another thing as we all know is that, the primary caregiver spending over $7,000 out of pocket each year. And that's again, because like Shruti said, you have to buy the shower stool, you've gotta get the wheelchair, you've gotta get.

The, depends maybe, or you've gotta get the formula, the insurer, you know what uncle, uncle Tom can you get, can you get the insurer this month? Aunt Smith and Aunt Jane, can you get the, this thing off Amazon. It starts to relieve that pressure of you having to do everything and then you can share in that journey.

And like ti said, it just opens you up to Mary, clear those pathways for the relationship with your loved one rather than it being such a overwhelming to do list. And then so that's, that's what we really wanted to help relieve in the team aspect of it.

Diane: People don't understand, or caregivers don't understand, and the people around them don't understand that practical assistance not hands-on is more helpful.

Like, let me empty out the dishwasher for you. Yeah. Let me put the groceries away. Let me bring you a meal. Or, can I do and fold your laundry or something. Those are some of the most important tasks. That can be provided, that takes something away from the caregiver so that they can focus on maybe time for themselves.

Absolute concept. Yep. That's important. Well, I see hero generation uses AI to support families, so can you walk me through how that works in real life for a caregiver?

Shruti: Yeah, sure. Oh, so I actually use it right now. So we called our AI digital assistant, ask Andrea, and Andrea was Nicole's mother.

And we've really wrapped her in a very empathetic voice that was extremely important to us because we know that. Caregivers are facing anxiety, depression, isolation. So we wanted to make sure that there is someone, or in this case the AI assistant there at all times to be an empathetic voice to our caregivers.

In addition to that, we've really had her be specific to location conditions. So you can ask her any question having to do with caregiving, and she will come up with an empathetic answer that is precise to your stage of disease or location, local resources, and really answer them accurately.

When you find yourself as a caregiver thinking of something at 10:00 PM and you just need to get that answer right away. She's someone who can provide that to you.

Diane: I love that feature. I think that's so helpful because caregivers, when they go to bed, they're sitting up, they're already.

Perseverating on what they're going to do next, the next day. And I really like that you have give them an opportunity to have and I love the empathetic approach.

Nicole: Yeah. It's like a conversation. It's, we obviously make it very clear, this is not medical advice, this is just a starting point.

But you're up at 3:00 AM and you're thinking about, my dad has. Neuropathy in his feet. What is that like and what can I, is there anything I can do to support that? Or, you're just, and you can go back, okay, well then he's also feeling this or that, and you can just continue that conversation and, in no way is it replacing medical care at all, of course, but it's just a place, an outlet to get those questions answered.

Diane: Yes.

Nicole: And then it's just specific to your condition. You're, instead of having to Google and you get, massive information and a huge webpage that you need to read through back. And that often is, more challenging than it is helpful. So we really wanted to have that aspect be, a supportive voice for caregivers.

'cause we know that those questions come up all, all day, every day. The stress and the worrying does not go away, after the, the doctor's hours or so. So we wanted to have that be a piece of it.

Diane: One thing I have found with AI is it, can be, made to respond in, like a grade five level education level because you want language to be.

I could spew a bunch of, terms that everybody's gonna, the caregiver's gonna look at me like I have two heads. Plain English please. And AI has been able to do that really well, I think. So far my experience. And that's what desperately needed.

Nicole: It needs to have guardrails and not all AI is the same.

We've really, fed ours caregiving resources. We've really made sure that it has. High quality, peer reviewed, et cetera, resources. that's feeding, into her data. But, and again, like Shruti said, just really wrapped in a voice. So she'll always end with, you're doing a great job.

This is challenging. We understand, I understand this is difficult, so, but you're doing a great job just so that you have that reinforcement as well.

Diane: And to clarify your point one more time, caregivers not all the information you're gonna get on, Google is going to be, at a caregiver level, it could, like you said, it's, you could be overwhelmed with so much material and information, and you have created a platform where it can be specific to them and their needs at a specific time, which is so helpful.

Nicole: Exactly.

Diane: That's massive. That's huge to me.

Nicole: Yep.

Shruti: Yeah. Thank you for saying that.

Diane: So Shruti, I'm gonna ask you this 'cause you're still in the depths of caregiving in, up to your eyeballs in caregiving, with kids and stuff. How does the platform help you manage the overwhelming logistics like hospital discharges or even medication schedules?

Shruti: Oh man, so, so helpful to me. So I have three siblings and they're all in different states. So when I first became a caregiver, to my parents who are three blocks away, I thought everything has to be done by me because I am physically there. So this platform has made me realize, wait, hold on. I don't have to do everything.

I don't have to do all the phone calls, I don't have to make all the appointments. I don't have to order the things from Amazon. I can actually have my siblings be just as involved and they wanted to be. And this really gave me the opportunity to involve them and to take off so much off my plate. But it did take me a few weeks to months to even realize that this was a possibility.

And then when we got our platform out, I, it was like. A whole weight lifted off of me that I could now spend a little bit more time with my kids. I can spend a little bit more time for myself. And so that has been the biggest, biggest positive for me using hero generation.

Diane: You know, That's one of the biggest things I think caregivers have that, number one, they all think they have to do it and has to be done their way.

And, what I try when I'm working with my caregivers is to explain that, um. It can, You can get the same result, maybe doing it a different way. So stop being so, Stop being a nudge and telling people exactly how you have to have it done. Just be grateful for the help.

Nicole: Yes.

Diane: And understand that, if you're gentler and flexible, people will even be more willing to help you.

Nicole: Mm-hmm.

Diane: And that's really important. 'cause I, some caregivers are very possessive and I understand that and your love, but it's just not healthy for you as a, an individual to be. So I wanna say caring. and you have to be flexible enough to change your perspective on what the care is.

If it's not done just your way.

Nicole: Mm-hmm. And people do wanna help, they do wanna be part of that journey. Yeah. And so I think they feel honored to be able, I know a big thing for me with my mom was my aunt would come and just, especially in the end, when she was more in hospice, she would just sit with her and read.

She would read her book. For me, just knowing somebody was there with her and it could give me time to go, I have two kids as well, and to go and, get some errands done or so just knowing somebody was there with her just was the biggest relief. And for her it was, she felt honored to be part of it.

And so I think just finding ways that, you know. Be creative or just finding anything that people can do. And then you can just add it into hero gen, like you said, like sometimes face-to-face. It's not always easy to say, do this, this, and this, but you added to hero gen, you assign it to a person, they get a notification that they've been assigned a task and that's it, and they can take it on.

And so it's. We're really hoping that people find the ease in bringing in help because there's such value and such benefit and it's, one of the main things we need in this caregiving, environment that we're in these days.

Diane: Absolutely, absolutely. Now, we know isolation is a huge issue for caregivers.

How does hero generation create a sense of connection and community?

Nicole: Yeah, so we have on the platform. You can come to the platform. We have a community section, and this is actually open to anybody, so you don't have to be, a user of the actual platform, but it really helps deliver you specific, events if you are a member.

But anybody can go to the platform, go to our community, and we have aggregated events that so many wonderful organizations are already doing. We have a couple of our own that are just. Regular caregiver, talk about your experience, share, et cetera. But then there's, Alzheimer's Association, Parkinson's Foundation, American Cancer Society, all the groups and then, smaller groups we have here in Los Angeles, Lisa's Care Connection.

They're also actually in South Carolina. A lot of smaller groups put their events up so you can find something and they're all virtual right now. You can find something that's suitable to either your location, your geography, your, the condition you know of your loved one, whether it's dementia, Alzheimer's, cancer, Parkinson's, mental health, whatever it may be.

And you can join those. Those support groups and just see. I think just, we've heard it said just coming to the platform and seeing all the events that exist, that in and of itself shows, wow, we're not alone here. There are so many opportunities to connect. Other people are going through this and you can find something that's suitable for you when it's good for you.

And join those join those events. Maybe you just sit there and listen. Maybe you contribute, but you just that way know, you're not alone in this fight.

Diane: I love that you do that because caregivers have very little time.

Diane: And if they can click on something of interest and it's not in their time zone, it looks like you have other options.

Nicole: Yes.

Diane: So that they can join. And that's really a critical thing for caregivers to, to feel like part of something. And I know it's so hard to get them, to do anything online. That brings them in. A lot of them like to listen to something or be part of something at a later time.

Nicole: Yeah, and they can find those as well. It just leads them to those opportunities as well, so.

Nicole: Again, we're just aggregating all the amazing work that's being done by different organizations and different folks already. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, but just show that there are opportunities

Diane: That's really smart. Now we know many caregivers don't know where to start or what to ask. How does hero generation offer guidance or checklists for the first steps after a diagnosis or hospitalization?

Shruti: So, our website is actually very intuitive and we go through an onboarding process where you put in certain information about your loved one and really just going through the steps.

That is the major first step after someone's been hospitalized or you've just become a caregiver because we help you organize all the information. And that's once you get that done, things become a lot more manageable. And so organizing the information such as health insurance information, all the doctors medications they're on, the disease that, or condition that they have.

It really gives you that big picture of your loved one, and I think that's so helpful. You become a lot more knowledgeable and then you can take the next steps of, now figuring out what to-dos There are going to be in the next few weeks or months, but really just that organization of the information from the platform is probably the most vital step once you've become a caregiver, to really feel confident in your role

Diane: as absolutely.

As a care manager, I say a hundred percent. You're right. Yeah.

Nicole: And that's just the onboarding process. We also have suggested tips so that they can scroll through. Do you have your, your legal documents that we suggest you have? Do you have, have you asked, Andrea a question?

So it kind of guides them to see that that resource exists where you can ask your first question. Then you, oh, wow. This is available to me. Start having that interaction. So those tips always scroll through. They pop up on the platform as well, so, we're prompting people as well and we're continuing to add those and add new ways to, like, exactly like you said, Diane.

People don't know what they don't know. I was in exact same boat. So we're continually finding ways to prompt caregivers. Into either asking a question or entering information or finding out information that's, that will absolutely be useful then or down the line.

Diane: Now there's always talk about the sandwich generation, and you guys are the typical sandwich generation caregivers.

What advice do you have for those balancing caregiving and careers and parenting? Yes.

Shruti: My favorite advice is to get your kids involved. So when I was, I love that. Yes. When I became a caregiver, and I had to do things for the kids and I had to do things for my parents, I decided to kind of take a step back and see if my kid wanted to do the thing for my parent, and my parents wanted to do the thing for my kids.

So, my youngest one who's now seven, he loves to play cards and he wants me to play cards with him, but this was the best way to really, to get my dad to play cards with him, which helps both of them. Yes. So now my child is getting to do what he wanted to do. My dad is using his hands, holding the cards.

He's keeping his brain active. So any chance I get now I think of a way to, I change the situation to take a step back and let them kind of figure it out. So my kids are now spending more time with my parents sleeping over on the weekends. My older two who are very good with technology can help my dad with all his technology questions that he usually saves for me.

And now he's kind of realized my kids actually do it better. So a lot of hacks like that. Have been.

Diane: I was very young when my grandmother became ill, broke her hip, came to our house and I learned very early on how to become a caregiver. And one of the things it does is it not only teaches you that, old people, because that's what they call us, we're old. are, have so much information and stories and history that they can share with us, and that they really have a lot to offer. And a lot of kids today miss that opportunity to connect with the few, the next generations. And I love the fact that they want to, like we played cards. We, we,

Nicole: yeah.

Diane: Every Sunday we play triple E, which is a game. I don't only think it exists anymore. It was gambling with pennies.

Nicole: Yep.

Diane: But, you just learn very early on it just prepares them for a future and it's a good thing. I, you can't go wrong with that. I really, yeah, you can. So I'm gonna ask you both, how do you envision the future of technology-based caregiving support, and what role will hero generation play in that space?

Nicole: We are so excited and bullish about what technology can do for caregivers and particularly hero generation, and so I think we're just on the tipping point of how AI can support, and while that sometimes has a scary connotation to it, how we really envision it is. A lot of this caregiving work is routine and there are certain things that everybody can do to either prepare before they're in a real acute situation or when they are just steps they can take to ease the complexity.

And we want more and more for our platform to be able to just say, have you done this? Here's something you can do. I see your, father is in this stage of dementia. Have you done this? Have you set up this? I see that you were just, your father was just diagnosed. Have you taken care of this?

It just eases. We wanna be a preemptive and a predictive platform, and the technology is there. We've just gotta deploy it. We've just gotta get it going.

Diane: Yes, I agree.

Nicole: It just relieves if you don't have to think about that other stuff. That is just. Again, like I said, piles up and piles up.

That can be just so routine if we can take care of that and take that off your plate for you. Yes. It just again, opens up for those Exactly like you said, Diane, the stories, the, opportunity, opportunities to connect. I mean, one thing that I loved is I had my dad, basically tell his life story and I saved it on StoryCorps.

Which I don't know if you're familiar with that.

Diane: I'm very familiar with it and I encourage, in fact, I was just going to tell Dr. Roy that's something she should be doing with her kids and her parents. You talked about it. 'cause I just think that we need to save those stories for future generations and it's a wonderful platform. And that's so funny 'cause that was exactly what popped into my head.

Nicole: Yeah. So we'd love, StoryCorp, you're out there. We'd love to collaborate and get you on your generation too, because. But oftentimes that's like such a, when you have to, check the insurance, is the caregiver coming, who's doing the ps, taking the PT appointment?

Stuff like that just gets pushed to the side because it is not, critical to the daily care. So we wanna be able to take up. Take off those, critical pieces, take them off the plate to open up more opportunity for, those more joyful and hopefully, more memorable, time and and, interactions with their loved one.

And so we're working on it. Where already the platform we think does that, but it's a little bit more hands-on. But soon we'll get it to where, we can just automate a lot of these routine tasks and just make the whole caregiving journey that much easier.

Diane: And it's necessary with a silver tsunami we have facing us.

Nicole: Absolutely. I love that. I actually haven't heard that term before. Silver Tsunami. I mean, I know the numbers, but heard that.

Diane: It definitely a silver tsunami, right?

Nicole: Yeah. It is

Diane: So now I'm gonna ask you both one last question. What's one message you want every overwhelmed caregiver out there to hear today?

Shruti: Yeah. take, cut off guard. I'm sorry. No, that's a great question and it's actually one that Nicole and I speak about a lot, especially with me being in the middle of it. I would say take 5 to 10 minutes every day and either write down how you feel or do something where you can be in that moment to think about what you're going through.

Instead of just going through it. Yeah. Don't just go through all of it and not have taken the time to reflect on it. As I had mentioned earlier, take some time to grieve if you need to take, have a good cry in the bathroom. But just get those 10 minutes back and if that means you're, assigning tasks to do to get that 10 minutes back, make sure that you take it.

Make sure you do it.

Diane: Good point. Yes.

Nicole: Yeah. I mean, I would say, I've had a lot of time to reflect back on my experience, but it honestly was the honor of my life, to be honest. So, I'm away from it now. Like, I know when I was in the middle of it, it didn't feel that way.

But when I look back, it really was the honor of my life because my parents meant a lot to me.

Nicole: And so. If I can have caregivers exactly. Do what exactly Shruti said, where you can just take a minute to step back, take time for yourself. Realize this is part of the human, existence.

For better or worse, this is something that we all, go through. Yeah. and make it as honorable for you and your loved one as possible. I, I look back on that now and I'm, I'm, it was hard, but I'm, I'm proud that I was part of that

Nicole: Journey and especially for, there for my parents and so.

I think, the more that you can reflect on that and bring people into that journey and that honor, the more, rewarding, if that, you can even use that word. It will be when you reflect back on it

Diane: that, that, those are great tips I tell my caregivers. Start every day with finding one thing you're grateful for.

Diane: You wanna start on a positive note because if you change your perspective, you change your attitude.

Nicole: Yes.

Diane: You always wanna start on the right foot.

Nicole: That is exactly. I tell my kids that is exactly, that's I think for everybody in life, that is incredible advice.

Diane: Yes, yes. Thank you ladies so much for sharing your information.

I'm so excited about hero generation and the ability it has to help so many, especially with the silver tsunami coming. To my family caregivers out there. Remember, you are the most important part of the caregiving equation. Without you, it all falls apart. So please learn to be gentle with yourself.

Practice self-care every day. Don't hesitate to ask for help because you are worth it. Can I add one last

Nicole: thing, Diane, do you mind?

Diane: Oh, yes.

Nicole: If I could add just one last thing. Hero generation, it's free to start. There's no credit card required. I know. we just wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to get up and running.

So please, give it a try. And if you have any questions, our email is there. Contact us directly. It's both Shruti and I. We will interact with you even if it's not about the platform, if it's just about caregiving in general, please know we are there as a resource.

Diane: And at the end of, on the page that we created with our podcast, we created a whole page with a transcription and stuff.

We will put all that information on there as well, and a link to your site, so you'll have that.

Nicole: amazing, amazing.

Shruti: Diane.

Diane: Thanks ladies.

Nicole: Thank you so much.

Diane: I wish, I really do wish you much success. I really do and I'm looking forward to when I'm old that my, my son who's a nurse anesthetist, will be taking care of me.

Nicole: Yes, well, you can get your info on the line, get your info up on Hero Generation now it's totally free. We have the loved one profile where you can just like store information. So you just have it all there. You can add him, and it's totally free to, to hold and to keep that going so that, you've just got it all in one place and it's easy.

Diane: I love that. I love that.

Nicole: Yeah.

Diane: Thank you so much for your time.

Nicole: Thank you Diane.

Diane: And

Shruti: I love speaking with you.

Diane: Oh, I loved it too. Yeah. Let us know if you need it. I know we'll run again, run into each other again, I'm sure.

Shruti: Yes, absolutely.

Diane: Good luck.

Shruti: Good luck.