In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories from the Front Lines of America’s Caregiving Crisis

This gut-wrenching account from sociologist Mauldin (Made to Hear) spotlights the hardships endured by couples in the U.S. when one partner becomes disabled or ill and the other must serve as full-time caregiver. Drawing on her harrowing experiences caring for her late partner J., who suffered from leukemia, as well as the stories of four other couples, the author explores the financial, physical, and mental toll of caregiving. The able-bodied partner, she shows, becomes a “bottomless resource”—or, as she bittersweetly calls it, “The One”—who must act as “physical therapist, appointment scheduler, medication manager, and all-around assistant.” Throughout, the author pinpoints how these challenges stem from America’s “minimal social safety nets,” as in the case of Tina, a woman with multiple sclerosis who struggles with red tape while trying to access home-care services through Medicaid, meaning that her husband must miss work to help her; or Angel, an independent contractor who can’t afford health insurance and is thus disastrously uninsured when he suffers a stroke. Mauldin’s account stands out for its courageous coverage of taboo topics, including the physical effort of “toileting,” caregivers who suffer from PTSD, and how infidelity can become imperative for a caregiver’s mental health. (It’s “the one thing that can bring you back to life,” one subject says.) The result is both an unflinching look at private worlds of pain and a forceful denunciation of America’s for-profit healthcare system. (Feb.)