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Support For Caregivers
Family caregivers are the backbone of all senior care in our country. Caregivers provide the bulk of elder care, and they also pay the bulk of caregiving costs. Caregivers need a whole lot more support than they usually get.
In this department we offer support, information, and encouragement to family caregivers, the unsung heroes of the caregiving world.
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Holiday Tension Diffuser
When family members gather for a holiday celebration it's an ideal time to gather some of the more obscure and fascinating information about our elders that never appears on a family tree. Getting an oral history started is also a great way to cool down conversations that may be getting heated and to give a senior some positive attention that doesn't focus on health, disabilities and doctor visits. . . . keep reading
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Air Travel With The Elderly
There are several little things you can do to make traveling with an elderly person easier, especially during crowded holiday travel periods. These don't require notes from a doctor or any additional documentation at all, but you might want to set things in motion before you leave for the airport . . . keep reading
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Holiday Rules
This is the season when the food police come out with their wagging fingers and annual tips on how to get through the holidays without gaining 10 pounds. Magazines are full of holiday eating do's and don'ts. 'Eliminate second helpings, high-calorie sauces and cookies made with butter,' they say. Fill up on vegetable sticks. Good grief. Is your favorite childhood memory of Christmas a carrot stick? A carrot was something you left for Rudolph. . . . keep reading
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What Your Area Agency on Aging Can Do For You
With the exception of places like your ElderCare Team site and a few others like it, there is no real single information resource for what we call the "eldercare maze." The various Area Agencies on Aging are the closest thing we have to a publically supported "gateway," yet far too few people know just what they can offer to caregivers. . . . keep reading
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We Need To Talk: Having A Family Meeting
Should we have a family meeting? If you're asking the question, the answer is probably, "Yes." If you have concerns about an older family member, and you have siblings or other close relatives, a family meeting can be the best way to share those concerns and begin putting together a plan . . . keep reading
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Poisonous Guilt
Guilt is an important and necessary feeling that we all experience at one time or another. It is absolutely the appropriate feeling to have when we have deliberately done something hurtful or harmful to others. Toxic guilt, on the other hand, is inappropriate guilt -- guilt that comes from self-judgments regarding having done something wrong when there is no actual wrongdoing . . . keep reading
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Getting Started As A Long-Distance Caregiver
You live more than an hour or two away from your parents. You don't see them every day. If something were to happen, you couldn't get there right away. You're a long-distance caregiver (or someday you will be), and you need a team closer to your parents that you can trust to be your eyes, ears, and hands . . . keep reading
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Relocating With A Senior
Moving from one location to another with your aging parent? It could be because of a job transfer, or simply because you are heading for greener pastures. Bringing a senior along on your move adds to the things you will need to research about your prospective new home . . . keep reading
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My Elderly Mother is Never Happy
No matter what I do I can't seem to make my mother happy. I manage to get just about everything I do for her wrong. There was something wrong with all her Christmas gifts. If I take her out she is too cold, too hot, the food isn't cooked right, the car is uncomfortable and everything is too crowded. I'm too fat. My kids are lazy - they are 3 and 7! She calls every day to complain about how sick she is (she's perfectly healthy) and how no one ever comes to see her. She has no friends. I'm getting stomach pains when I hear the phone ring . . . keep reading
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Should I Make My Parent Move When Home Isn't Safe?
Does worry about your parents living alone keep you up nights? Do you want them to move to a "safer" place with more help now that they are getting older? Do you feel guilty all the time that they still live at home and you can't do enough to be sure they're safe? . . . keep reading
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Talking to Your Parent About Hygiene
My elderly mom smells and I want to discuss it with her but don't know how to broach it without upsetting her. She has a little dementia that is well managed - mostly forgetfulness and some confusion. She claims to shower every day but I can't believe everything she says about anything. Her apt. also smells - I think it's related to urine. I literally cringe when she getting in my car. Any suggestions? . . . keep reading
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Just Say "No" to "Yes"
It sounds so easy..."Just Say NO!" So why is "No" the hardest word in the English language for most everyone to say? "I'll try," and "I'll see what I can do" both have more words, yet they surely do come spilling out of our mouths faster and easier than "No." As caregivers with more than enough on our plates as it is, here are some quirky ways to say "No" next time we're someone's target . . . keep reading
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How to Enroll in Hospice
My father has heart disease, Parkinson's, and macular degeneration. He is now almost blind. He now faces kidney failure, and his doctors are talking about dialysis. I believe him when he says he is ready to go. His doctor doesn't want to talk about Hospice, but my father does. I support my father with whatever decision he makes. How can I enroll him in Hospice? . . . keep reading
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Real Holiday Survival Tips
As I read the 12-dozenth caregiver holiday advice column about how to survive the holidays I must agree, they all have great suggestions about reducing expectations, delegating chores, and accepting that things will probably be "different" this year. Good suggestions all, yet why don't they seem to be as helpful as we'd hoped? . . . keep reading
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PACE: The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
How many seniors who can no longer get along without regular assistance would benefit from a program that provided medical oversight by doctors and nurses experienced in caring for the elderly, physical and occupational therapy on site, daily recreational opportunities, social services, personal care and homemaker services, nutritional counseling, a day program with meals, and transportation to get there and back home every day? . . . keep reading
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Alzheimers Disease
