5 Questions to Determine the Impact of Caregiving on the Caregiver
Photo credit Mathilde Loland
Are you prepared to take on the responsibility of caring for a family member? Will you be able to handle the commitment of moving your parent(s) in with you? How will you know when caregiving has become too much to handle? Will caregiving negatively impact your relationships with immediate family members? When is it time to think about other eldercare arrangements? When aging parents or an ill family member need help, many of us dive into caregiving with full hearts and little forethought. Sometime later, we come to realize that we’ve been in this role for months or even years and that it has...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 18, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Are People Living with Advanaced Dementia Aware of Their Surroundings?
Photo credit Matthew Bennett
I was recently chatting with a group of students from a university class that uses my book as a text, and a young woman shared a story about her grandmother that started an interesting discussion. The young woman was in her twenties and her name was Anna. Although she had never known her grandmother without AD, they still had a close relationship. Twenty years is a long time for the disease to progress, and some people decline much more quickly than others. Anna was fortunate to know her grandmother during the years when she was still able to communicate. Of course, as her grandmoth...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 17, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Virtual Clinical Trials: Interview with Ivan Jarry, CEO at ObvioHealth
Decentralized and virtual clinical trials are gaining prominence, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic which made it difficult for trial participants to attend in-person appointments. However, conducting clinical trials remotely has a host of potential benefits beyond reducing COVID-19 transmission, including improved patient compliance, real-world data, real-time data, and reduced costs.
ObvioHealth is championing this approach to clinical trials, and through a partnership with Renovia, completed the first fully virtual clinical trial in urogynecology, which investigated the leva Pelvic Health System. The leva devi...
Source: Medgadget - May 16, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Ob/Gyn Urology clinical trials ObvioHealth Source Type: blogs
When a Loved One with Alzheimer's Doesn't Recognize You
Photo credit D Mason
Watching a loved one move through the stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be one of life's toughest and most heartbreaking challenges. If we had to list examples of emotions by the distress they cause us, at the top of the list would be watching someone we love experience physical and mental pain that we cannot relieve. For many caregivers, next on the list at least for many caregivers, would be having to live with the fact that a loved one no longer recognizes us for who we are.
When my family members were residents of a care facility, I asked one of the nurses at the nursing home if my moth...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 16, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Coping with Caregiving: How to End the Habit of Emotional Eating
Photo credit Tetiana Bykovets
As far back as breast or formula feeding, most of us learned that a sweet taste meant care and comfort. As we grew into more sophisticated foods, we learned to equate certain items with happiness. Our parents picked up on these preferences and would offer these things as treats and on special occasions. Ice cream, anyone? Somewhere deep in our subconscious, most of us learn to associate food—at least certain types of food—with nurturing, comfort and happiness. For this reason, caregivers who are overloaded with responsibilities and stressed to the max often turn to food as a source ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 15, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
People Living with Dementia - and Their Caregivers - Still Need Their Friends
Photo credit Pexels Cotton Bro
Dear Carol: My dad used to be well known in our medium-sized community because he was a businessman and active in local organizations. Then, he developed dementia and people gradually forgot about him. I understand that the changes in him were painful to see, but this tore me apart. He spent ten years living with Alzheimer’s disease before he died, and while at first, some people did stop by, gradually his lifelong friends fell away. Why can’t people try harder to visit old friends and colleagues who have dementia? It would mean so much! – GH
Continue reading on Inforum for some discuss...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 14, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
10 Caregiver Tips for Caring for an Older Adult's Hair
Photo credit Cristian Newman
As we age, some of the angst of youth fades, making us more relaxed about our looks. But, our hair is a big part of how we present ourselves to the world, and most of us still want to look our best. Caring for an elder's hair can be a challenge. My mother-in-law, Alice, had been going to the same beauty shop for decades. The salon was situated in a woman's home, and there were several steps that led up to the entrance. In general, the steps weren't a problem for Alice, until a fear of falling took over. She would freeze about halfway up or down the steps. We'd remain stuck in the middle, ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 13, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
What to Do When a Senior Repeats the Same Things Over and Over
Photo credit Georg Arthur Pflueger
One sign of the aging brain is repeating things more often, especially stories and questions. There are reasons for this that are not related to progressive conditions like dementia, but in either case, repetition can get old very quickly. Even the most experienced and patient family caregivers occasionally struggle to hide their frustration. While there is no easy fix for this trying side effect of aging, a change in attitude and some proven strategies can help you keep your cool and preserve your loved one’s dignity.
On Aging and Being Repetitive" As we age, our perspecti...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 12, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
How to Convince a Older Adult with Incontinence to Wear Adult Diapers
Photo credit Mathias Konrath
Incontinence is a condition that is often difficult for a person to accept and deal with. Many seniors try to ignore this new development and carry on with their lives, but a head-in-the-sand approach usually draws more attention to the problem. There are ways to encourage a loved one to address this issue, but they require patience, understanding and a commitment to upholding your loved one’s dignity.
Pro Tip: Strike the Word Diaper from Your Vocabulary
“My parent won’t wear adult diapers and it drives me nuts!”
This is a common complaint from family caregivers whose loved ones are suf...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 11, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
How Can We Minimize Grief for a Surviving Spouse Living with Dementia?
Photo credit Tim Doerfler
Deciding whether to tell someone who is cognitively impaired that their spouse has died is a serious and often recurring struggle. Dementia and death are sad and challenging enough on their own, but when they coincide, the result can be truly heartbreaking. For someone who has never experienced the challenges of caring for someone with dementia, decisions about telling the truth may seem like a no-brainer. However, as with many dementia-related quandaries, the question and answer are far more complex for those facing this reality. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this painful situat...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 10, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
People Living with Advanced Alzheimer's Are Still Aware of Their Surroundings
Photo credit Alberto Barbarisi
Note to subscribers: There was a glitch in the newspaper link in yesterday's post so here is a refreshed link for the column on falls and decline:
Today's post on awareness below:
...Even among medical experts, you will find differing opinions on how much someone with advanced dementia of any type understands. Alzheimer's disease (AD) in particular can render a person mute and uncommunicative, especially during the final stages of the disease. This situation commonly leaves family members wondering how much their loved one is aware of and whether their efforts are providing any comfort...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 9, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
For Older Adults a Fall Can Increase Their Chance of Serious Decline and Death
Photo credit Daniel von Appen
Dear Carol: My 86-year-old dad fell and broke his arm. After two nights in the hospital, he was sent to rehab, but the confusion that he’s experienced since his hospitalization hasn’t resolved. The family all work full time so after rehab, in order to keep Dad safe, we’ll need to move him to a facility. There’s a well-respected care home nearby so, considering the situation, I’m not worried about his long-term care. What does concern me is a friend mentioned that a fall was what signaled the end of her dad’s life. I understand that falls are hard on older bodies, but I didn't know ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 8, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Caregivers Can Celebrate Mother's Day With Forgiveness
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Nearly any of us who are mothers have wanted to be a perfect example of motherhood. Yet, the reality is, since we are human, most of us perceive some failures in our own mothering. We do the best that we can and often overcome tough issues of our own. Yet we are rarely saints who are often portrayed in literature and advertisements, especially during this special time when we celebrate mothers. We need to understand, love, and forgive ourselves for our perceived imperfections as mothers. And yes, we need to try to understand, love, and forgive our mothers for what may have been less than p...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 6, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Tips for Balancing Caregiving Relationships between Generations
Caregiving can creep into your life or crash down with a bang, but either way, if we aren’t thinking ahead, we can find that our other relationships suffer. Oh man, I’ve been there.
This is how it often happens: You see your parents a lot since you still live in the same community. So, when your mom falls and breaks her arm, of course, you rush to help. You assist your dad with making some adjustments around the house, and then, for the most part, he takes over. Then, the unthinkable: Your dad has a heart attack. You rush in to help. And then…
I refer to this as the “creep-up factor” because while many situ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 5, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Coping with Dementia Care Burnout
Photo credit Tuva Mathilde Loland
You watch your once mentally sharp loved one decline before your eyes. Their uncontrollable behaviors, mood swings, outbursts, confusion, and memory loss are heartbreaking. The worry that a single lapse in supervision may result in your loved one wandering off, falling down or having some other accident is overwhelming. Caring for a senior with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or another type of dementia involves significant physical, mental, emotional, and financial investments. Family caregivers often struggle to balance dementia care while working, nurturing relationships with their immediate...
Source: Minding Our Elders - May 4, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
