Open Enrollment: Time to check your parents'
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Open Enrollment: Time to check your parents' Medicare plans
If you handle Medicare for your parents, you are likely aware that we are now in the middle of what is called the open enrollment period. Even if your parents handle their own Medicare,...
If you handle Medicare for your parents, you are likely aware that we are now in the middle of what is called the open enrollment period. Even if your parents handle their own Medicare,...
Cataract surgery helps people with dementia
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Mood, cognitive ability improve in people with dementia after cataract surgery
After reading a report – the first of its kind – on how cataract surgery can benefit people with Alzheimer’s disease, I wrestled with some personal, if unfounded, guil...
After reading a report – the first of its kind – on how cataract surgery can benefit people with Alzheimer’s disease, I wrestled with some personal, if unfounded, guil...
Memoirs about caring for a mother with Alzheimer's
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Two honest, intimate memoirs about caring for a mother with Alzheimer's disease
Many of us find that sharing our stories helps increase the joy in our lives as well as lessen the pain. As a long-time family caregiver, I know firsthand how isolati...
Many of us find that sharing our stories helps increase the joy in our lives as well as lessen the pain. As a long-time family caregiver, I know firsthand how isolati...
Assisted living combines help and social life
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Assisted living centers are attractive to many people who are isolated in older homes, with neighbors they no longer know and yards that are too much work. Not everyone wants to make this move, but many do it anyway, if only because they must have...
Depression among caregivers high: get help
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Numerous studies have shown that depression is a huge risk for many caregivers. People generally go into caregiving out of love, giving no thought to the fact that caregiving for an elder could go on for years. Quality of life for both caregiver a...
Coping with outsiders who criticize caregiving
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Coping with outsiders who criticize your caregiving choices
One of the saddest letters I've gotten from readers was from a woman who had cared for her Parkinson's stricken husband for over a decade. Her whole life revolved around his needs. Event...
One of the saddest letters I've gotten from readers was from a woman who had cared for her Parkinson's stricken husband for over a decade. Her whole life revolved around his needs. Event...
Loneliness causes some elders to turn to alcohol
posted 3 months ago | 0 comments
Many an elder who only drank socially, or with a spouse, finds that a nice glass of wine at the end of the day helps ease loneliness. The once concrete rule that only alcoholics drink alone is rationalized away. When aren't they alone? The death o...
When the Caregiver's Health Fails
posted 4 months ago | 0 comments
Protecting Caregiver Health: When the Caregiver's Health Fails the Care System Can Collapse
Think of it like this: Caregivers are the base of a pyramid. When the base collapses, the whole pyramid crashes. Many of us are "natural caregivers."
Think of it like this: Caregivers are the base of a pyramid. When the base collapses, the whole pyramid crashes. Many of us are "natural caregivers."
Communicating with sick elders
posted 5 months ago | 0 comments
Music and reading help caregivers communicate with sick elders
On instinct, the husband decided he would do what he'd always done. He climbed into her bed with her and held her. He cuddled with her. He stroked her face and told her he loved her....
On instinct, the husband decided he would do what he'd always done. He climbed into her bed with her and held her. He cuddled with her. He stroked her face and told her he loved her....
People diagnosed with Alzheimer’s need support
posted 5 months ago | 0 comments
An Alzheimer’s diagnosis is something that few, if any of us, would see as positive. An early on-set Alzheimer’s diagnosis can be even more devastating, since the age of early on-set – 65 and under - is often still a prime time of accomplishment f...
