Helping Caregivers Find Their Voice
When someone you love becomes seriously ill, everything can change in an instant. Suddenly you're making decisions you never expected to make, asking questions you never imagined, and trying to navigate a healthcare system that can feel overwhelming.
Through powerful storytelling, practical guidance, and more than two decades of healthcare leadership, Melanie Rae helps caregivers find the confidence to speak up when it matters most.
Sitting in the Chair
A CAREGIVER'S STORY. A PATIENT ADVOCATE'S PERSPECTIVE.
A GUIDE FOR THE MOMENT YOU NEVER THOUGHT WOULD COME.
Part memoir and part advocacy guide, Sitting in the Chair tells the deeply personal story of navigating a life-changing medical crisis—and shares the practical lessons learned along the way.
Through seven essential advocacy tools, readers learn how to ask better questions, protect dignity, navigate the healthcare system, and find their voice when it matters most.
INSIDE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
✓ Find Your Footing in the middle of chaos
✓ Ask the Question Anyway
✓ Don’t Accept Silence
✓ Protect Their Dignity
✓ Navigate the System
✓ Drive the Next Step
✓ Trust What You Know
I felt I lived what you were going through.
“
— Tony McIntyre,
longtime writer and columnist
Meet Melanie Rae
Healthcare leader. Family caregiver. Author. Speaker.
I know what it's like to sit on both sides of the chair.
For more than two decades, I built programs that helped patients and families navigate healthcare from the inside. I led patient advocacy departments, improved patient experience, and worked alongside physicians, nurses, and healthcare leaders to make care better.
Then one unexpected illness changed everything.
When my husband became critically ill, I found myself sitting on the other side of the chair—not as a healthcare executive, but as a wife and caregiver trying to navigate a system I thought I already understood.
Even with more than twenty years in healthcare, I wasn't prepared for what it felt like to advocate for someone I loved. The questions come fast. The decisions feel impossible. And too often, families don't know what to ask until it's too late.
That experience became the foundation for my book, Sitting in the Chair, and the caregiver advocacy framework I now teach to caregivers, hospitals, and community groups.
Today, my mission is simple.
Help caregivers find the confidence to ask questions, speak up, and advocate for the people they love—without losing themselves in the process.
Every caregiver deserves to feel heard.
Every family deserves someone who knows how to ask the next question.
🏥 Healthcare Leader
Built patient advocacy programs and spent more than two decades improving patient experience.
❤️ Family Caregiver
Lived the uncertainty, fear, and determination that come with advocating for someone you love.
🎤 Author & Speaker
Helping caregivers find their voice through storytelling, practical guidance, and advocacy tools.
Wear the Message
Carry the message beyond the pages.
The Sitting in the Chair T-shirt was created for caregivers, advocates, and anyone who knows the importance of speaking up when something doesn't feel right.
Sitting in the Chair T-Shirt
Choose your size and your favorite back: Blank, Whale Poop, or the Caregiver's Toolkit.
