Corporate social media essentially goes through three stages. The first is new, free and wonderful, lots of functionality, user friendly and free, or at least pretending to be free. It’s purpose is to build a customer/product base (as the customer is the product). The second stage is monetization. The purpose
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THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Perfect Fake Independence
The other day I was browsing facebook posts in an online caregiver support group when I read, “My mother was living the perfect life of fake independence when she fell and broke her hip. Before yesterday, she lived in an apartment that adjoins our house. I cooked all her meals
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: When Homes for Autonomous Seniors Aren’t Safe
Today is the fifth anniversary of a terrible fire in a Quebec seniors’ home. On the night of January 23, 2014, The Residence du Havre nursing home in L’Isle-Verte, Quebec, was consumed by fire – one that originated in the residence kitchen, but quickly became an inferno. 32 people died
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Ask Yourself, Have You Been "Tuned Up" Yet?
This breathes new meaning into the phrase “bored to death.” Behavioural pschology suggests we may have been conditioned to submit to neoliberalism. We have been made susceptible to manipulation and control. Alfie Kohn, in Punished by Rewards (1993), documents with copious research how behavior modification works best on dependent, powerless, infantilized, bored,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Blog Challenge Week One: My Connection to Disability
This summer, I’m participating in a blog hop. The first topic of discussion is ‘My Connection to Disability’. It was 1972 and I was seventeen. I remember it was hot and humid on the day that the loudspeaker crackled to life and called my name, telling me to go to
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: What’s a Fair Deal for Family Caregivers and Their Loved Ones?
How should family caregivers be supported in society? What is the role of government? What is the role of the private sector? What claim does a person needing care have on his family or on the taxpayer? What is the human worth of people whose needs are high, yet are
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: Kill Me Now, I’m Disabled – The Assisted Suicide Debate
Yesterday, I was listening to the radio on my drive home from Montreal. I had driven from our cottage in the Quebec Laurentians in the early morning to join my sister because, finally, our Mum was being discharged from the hospital after a long stay. There is a lot to
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