An estimated 5.4 million children and adolescents provide care and support to ill and disabled family members in the United States each year, yet without recognition and formal support. “Youth caregivers” find themselves on a complex journey to adulthood: they navigate practical and intimate care provision while juggling homework, friendships, and hobbies. Drawing on her international mixed-methods research with youth caregivers and her own lived experience, Dr. Feylyn Lewis will address the impact of family caregiving responsibilities on child and adolescent development and provide practitioners, researchers, and community members with evidence-based recommendations for supporting youth caregivers to thrive.
Dr. Feylyn Lewis, PhD, is a researcher, advocate, and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Drawing on her own experience as a youth caregiver, her research focuses on mental health and resiliency among youth and young adult caregivers in the U.S. and internationally. She is also active in national and international caregiving advocacy, serving on several boards and contributing to efforts to increase awareness and support for family caregivers.
This event is part of The Cleveland Humanities Festival, a collaborative event celebrating the great cultural institutions of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, dedicated to humanistic inquiry. As part of this year's festival, the Schubert Center for Child Studies is sponsoring this event along with our campus partner, Baker-Nord Institute for the Humanities.