Joan DelFattore writes about the choice to live single, with emphasis on what's involved in handling a serious illness while living alone. She gave a TedX talk, "Sick While Single Don't Die of Discrimination," at TedXWilmingtonWomen on November 2, 2017. Her articles have appeared at the Washington Post, the Herald Tribune, Quartz, KevinMD, Psychology Today, Psych Central, and more.
Her earlier publications include three books with Yale University Press and dozens of articles, mostly about freedom of speech. Her work has won awards from the American Library Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the Spencer Foundation, among others. In addition to speaking at conferences and events throughout the country, she's appeared on dozens of talk shows, notably 20/20, Radio Times, Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation, and the Diane Rehm Show.
She holds a Ph.D. in English and an M.S. in clinical psychology from Penn State University, and was a professor at the University of Delaware for more than thirty years. After retiring in 2014, she established a Writing as Healing program at the Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, teaching research-based techniques for using writing to reduce stress. The program has served more than 600 patients, caregivers, and staff, and in 2017, she added narrative medicine workshops for physicians. DelFattore is also an active member of the Cosmos Club, the Wilmington (Delaware) Rotary Club, the International Women's Forum, Mystery Writers of America (New York chapter), and the Authors Guild. She divides her time between her home in Newark, Delaware, and New York City.