Caregiving Changed Her Life—Now She’s Changing Caregiving Through Research with Dr. Francesca Falzarano

Nicole Will
2 days ago
3 min read

Best caregiver podcast caregiver support dementia alzheimers

Caregiving Changed Her Life - Now She's Changing Caregiving Through Research with Dr. Francesca Falzarano, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

What happens when your childhood is shaped not just by your parents, but by a diagnosis that quietly becomes another presence in the room, demanding attention, shifting dynamics, and altering the course of your life?

For many family caregivers, dementia doesn't arrive with instructions. It shows up as a slow unraveling—a before and after that stretches across years. And yet, within that complexity are moments of clarity, growth, and deep insight. Today, we’re talking about what it means to turn that personal story into research that’s reshaping how we support caregivers across the lifespan.

My guest is Dr. Francesca Falzarano, a developmental psychologist and Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School. Francesca was a caregiver for her beautiful mom, Angelina, an experience that became the heartbeat of her life’s work. Through her lab at USC, she’s investigating the shifting needs of caregivers from diagnosis through bereavement, using both data and lived experience to illuminate what caregivers actually need—and when they need it most.

In today’s conversation, we’ll explore how Francesca’s personal story shaped her path into gerontology, the mission of the Falzarano Family Caregiver Lab, and how technology might help, not just in streamlining tasks, but in strengthening human connection. We’ll talk about the diverse realities of caregiving, the importance of making research accessible, and the emotional landscape of anticipatory grief. If you’re a caregiver, a professional, or simply someone who cares deeply about aging with dignity, this episode is for you.

Listen to our episode HERE.

Connect with Dr. Falzarano and learn more about the Falzarano Family Caregiving Lab HERE.

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About Dr. Francesca Falzarano

Francesca Falzarano, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. She is a developmental psychologist whose research is focused on the intersection of technology and dementia care, with a particular emphasis on enhancing the mental health and well-being of family caregivers. Motivated by her personal experiences with caregiving, her research adopts a developmental perspective to examine the diverse and transitory needs of dementia caregivers through the entire illness trajectory from diagnosis, progression, to death and into bereavement. Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, Falzarano investigates how caregivers’ needs vary based on a myriad of factors including demographic, contextual, and interpersonal dynamics. She also focuses on examining technology as a mechanism to foster mental health and well-being among dementia family caregivers.

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We are not medical professionals and are not providing any medical advice. If you have any medical questions, we recommend that you talk with a medical professional of your choice. willGather has taken care in selecting its speakers but the opinions of our speakers are theirs alone. Thank you for your continued interest in our podcasts.