A New National Initiative of Wellbeing for Family Caregivers

Duet Kicks Off National Partnership with Lifespan Research Foundation and its Founder, Robert Waldinger, M.D., of Harvard University

Lessons from the longest study on happiness

What makes for a happy life, a fulfilling life? A good life? In their “captivating” (The Wall Street Journal) book, the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted, show that the answer to these questions may be closer than you realize.

Duet is proud to share a significant new national partnership with Lifespan Research Foundation and its founder, Robert Waldinger, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard Study on Adult Development, the world’s longest scientific study of happiness, and co-author of the New York Times national bestseller, The Good Life, sharing the Harvard study’s lessons on aging successfully with a healthier, happier, and more satisfying life.  Dr. Waldinger’s TED Talk is one of the most watched, with over 40 million views.

Lessons from 80+ years of research

Life stages. The conditions of humanity’s ability to thrive throughout all of life’s stages are knowable and actionable. From childhood to adolescence and adulthood, through midlife to maturity, humans flourish when there is meaning and purpose for their life, life-affirming human connections with others, and when there is wisdom to adapt to change. The Next Chapter in My Life represents a broad initiative for sharing key findings and lessons learned from 80+ years of research to help people make positive changes in their lives.

The Lifespan Research Foundation’s mission is to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection, and purpose.

Robert J. Waldinger, M.D.

Duet and Lifespan Research Foundation—A mission-match

Our mission to promote health and well-being through vitally needed services to homebound adults, family caregivers, and grandfamilies melds perfectly with the mission of Lifespan Research Foundation to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection, and purpose.

Duet was invited by Lifespan Research Foundation to provide Dr. Waldinger’s video series workshop, The Next Chapter in My Life, through a pilot focused on serving family caregivers who are nearing the end of their caregiving journey and face a difficult and bewildering transition to life after caregiving. This is a significant addition to Meaning & Hope Institute’s curated offerings, as we are the only provider of the workshop series to family caregivers in the nation.

• Four Duet team members were certified as facilitators (Janet Richards, Deanne Poulos, Justin McBride, and Barbara Austin pictured above with Mari Cleveland, Next Chapter Trainer), two focused on offering the series to dementia family caregivers who have completed the Finding Meaning and Hope discussion series, with the other two focusing on the same audience, but specific to veterans.
• Three Next Chapter sessions were completed and evaluated using pre and post surveys developed by Dr. Waldinger and Marc Schultz, Ph.D., associate director of the Harvard Study on Adult Development.
• Evaluation results were very strong, with 100% of participants rating the series as a valuable supplement to the Finding Meaning and Hope series. Duet will begin its new contract with Lifespan Research in October 2023.

Our pilot sessions were so successful that the collaboration is moving forward, with five additional facilitators trained by end of year, and Duet’s caregiver services lead staff being certified as Master Trainers.

Dr. Waldinger has agreed to voice over the Next Chapter workshop series in Spanish for Duet’s use with Spanish-speaking family caregivers in 2024. 

Through the Meaning & Hope Institute, we are confident that this important new collaboration will add significant benefit to the well-being of dementia family caregivers across the United States.

“Next Chapter in My Life helped me begin an important move toward taking charge of my journey ahead, reminded me that I have a purpose at every stage of my life and reaffirmed how vital healthy relationships are for a happy, healthy life! No matter what challenges I face, and transitions I pass through, life can be good, meaningful and happy! I am grateful for the opportunity to participate!“