Choosing Senior Housing and Care Based on Your Parent's Needs
Photo credit Siarhei Plashchynski
As our population ages and more of our national focus is on senior care, we can find ourselves in a muddle over confusing choices. How do we decide what care our elderly mother or father needs and when do we start looking for it?
Choosing Senior Care: If Mom is still living in her original home, with no one to look in on her regularly, she may be at a turning point. Many people choose to start getting help from in-home agencies since Mom can stay in her home longer with this help. Others feel it's time for Mom to move to assisted living. There are several things for you and yo...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 20, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
How Do We Cope When Two Parents Live with Dementia?
Photo credit Joe Hepburn
"My mom and dad both have dementia. I am all alone taking care of them since. I have no one to help me. I get sad and frustrated with them both. How do I deal with my feelings?" These are powerful words from one Caregiver Forum participant. It is a cry that is all too familiar for many family caregivers and one which will touch the hearts of most readers. Many of us feel alone when we are trying to care for our aging parents and there are no siblings to help, or our siblings won't help. When we have one parent who has this disease, it is hard. When we have two, it is o...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 19, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
The Emotional Toll of Moving Your Spouse or Older Parent to Senior Living
Photo credit Abigail Keenan
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. For most of us, the feeling is less about how large or fancy a residence is than about it being a place where we feel safe and where we have created countless memories with those closest to us. Furthermore, we fill our homes with things we enjoy and belongings that remind us of loved ones and good times. Now, put yourself in your parent’s shoes. They’ve likely lived in the same home for many years, but they’re getting older and their needs are changing. Mom or Dad is having trouble getting around, needs more help with activities of daily ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 18, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
End-of-Life Rallies Are a Gift that Can Confuse Family Members
Photo credit Claudia
Dear Carol: My mom was in hospice care for over five months. During those months, we thought that she was near death several times, but she’d rally (that’s what they call it) after each episode. Until she didn’t. I guess I’d become complacent because she’d improved so often, but her death felt like a shock. Apparently, such rallies aren’t unusual. Have you experienced it with your family? Does anyone have any idea why this happens? It’s been hard losing my mom right after she perked up so I’m struggling to find acceptance with the fact that she did finally pass. – WP
Con...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 17, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Coping With Older Adults Who Need but Won ’t Accept In-Home Caregivers
Photo credit Siarhei Plashchynski
Hiring in-home care for my elderly neighbor, Joe, was quite an ordeal. The company we chose and their professional caregivers were great, but the quality of care they provided wasn’t the issue. The problem was that Joe resented anyone but me helping him. He locked one in-home care aide out of his home, let another inside but was rude to her, and thoroughly enjoyed one young man but only because they could discuss golf together. I’m not the first family caregiver to struggle with getting a senior to accept home care. Families hire these services to provide valuable respite ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 16, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Controlling Older Parents? Here Are Some Survival Tips
Photo credit Alexandre Debieve
The responsibility of providing care for an aging or ill loved one is a monumental challenge in its own right. But when a care recipient is domineering about how and when every single task is done, it’s bound to exasperate their family caregiver(s). Maybe your controlling elderly mother demands that you keep her company around the clock, but she certainly won’t watch any of the television shows you enjoy. Your overbearing father might refuse to let you help him bathe, but there’s also no way he’ll ever let a professional bath aid set foot in the house. Perhaps your spouse compla...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 14, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Spring Cleaning: How to Refresh Your Caregiving Routine
For many families, spring is a time to shake off the winter blues, deep clean their homes, and focus on getting organized. Decluttering your physical environment can help you focus, minimize stress and be more productive. The same can be said for family caregivers’ care plans. It’s a human tendency to get stuck in our ways as we meet life’s demands, and caregiving is no exception. As time passes and circumstances change, the routines we have fallen into could often use some refreshing. With spring upon us, now is a good time to take an objective look at our care plans to see if there are any aspects in need of improv...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 13, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Living with Elderly Parents Can Work Well or Be a Disaster
If you are like most family caregivers, you probably made a promise to your parent(s) years ago that you would never place them in a long-term care facility. You assured them that you would be the one to see to their care no matter what. After all, that is what family does, right? But when it becomes clear that one or both parents need an increasing amount of assistance, many adult children find themselves in a delicate situation. Those who take the time to think through this decision are often plagued by questions and what-if scenarios. How much help does Mom actually need? Is Dad just lonely living by himself? How ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 12, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Humor Provides Armor Against Caregivers' Pain
One of the positive parts of being a family caregiver is the opportunity for emotional growth. We can develop increased compassion, patience, and tolerance, as well as humor. Yes, we often shed tears over our loved one's illness and often over our feelings of powerlessness. But humor may be the saving grace that keeps us from drowning in sorrow. Some situations, of course, leave no room for laughter. But some tough times can offer moments of levity if we choose to recognize them. My sister, Beth, and I experienced what to some people may be a rather macabre situation during the three days our mother was going through the d...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 11, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Remote Controls for TV Can Offer Older Adults Autonomy or Create Frustration
Dear Carol: My dad suffered a stroke that left him with vascular dementia. Mom works online at home, which is great except that Dad likes to watch TV. Since he forgets how to work the remote, he keeps interrupting her. I know that you don’t specialize in products but I’m writing to you because you obviously care about these things, and you have written periodic columns dealing with technology. Do you have any suggestions? – PJ
Continue reading on Inforum for some suggestions that may help with the whole remote-control nightmare that can come with dementia or simply aging:
Discover the Difference. EGOSAN - the Top-Rat...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 10, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Does Your Sibling Worry More for Their Inheritance Than Mom and Dad ’s Care?
Photo credit Afif Kusuma
Some adult children work seamlessly together to find the best care solutions for their aging parents. However, some siblings don’t contribute at all, leaving the heavy lifting, sacrifices, and difficult choices up to one adult child, often a daughter. Still, others are involved sporadically, only deigning to give their opinions when pricey care decisions are on the line. In the latter scenario, these siblings disprove of respite, are suspicious of outside caregivers, and demand to keep their parents’ bills low. They don’t want to entertain the thought of hiring professional caregivers o...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 8, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Balancing Elder Care with Other Relationships
Photo credit Amy Hirschi
Becoming a family caregiver is often something that either happens very suddenly or slowly sneaks up on a person. When a loved one has a health setback or begins needing more assistance, we tend to go into “crisis mode” and haphazardly shift our priorities around to ensure their immediate needs are met. Most family caregivers take on these responsibilities thinking they will be short-term commitments and that life will soon return to “normal.” But the reality is that caregiving can drag on for weeks, months, and even years. Without any solid plans or reprioritizing, things that were once at...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 7, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Keeping Older Adults Active and Engaged: Some Tips
Photo credit Manyerling Villalobos
As family caregivers, we strive to meet all our loved ones’ needs. We give medication reminders, cook meals, manage doctor’s appointments and keep schedules. Our daily tasks can be challenging, but one, in particular, gives families a lot of grief: ensuring our loved ones are stimulated and entertained. If a senior’s abilities have waned, it can be challenging to find ways to adapt or replace the pastimes they once loved. Sometimes, though, our loved ones simply lose their motivation to participate in life. They may complain, nag us, or spend all day sleeping or watching television....
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 6, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Home Care and In-Home Care: What's Covered, What's Not?
Home care can be helpful in supporting individuals of all ages to safely live at home for as long as possible and/or to recover from an unexpected health crisis. Additionally, home care can be a welcome source of support when family members can no longer provide care alone. These care providers are available for anything from simple household chores and companionship to complex care. But what exactly is meant by the terms “home care” and “in-home care," and what will your insurance cover?
Continue reading on HealthCentral for more about in-home care and insurance coverage:
Minding Our Elders: Careg...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 5, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
With Bladder Cancer Treatment the Risk of Incontinence Increases
Older adults are more prone to bladder cancer with about nine out of 10 people who develop this cancer being over the age of 55 with the average age of people when they are diagnosed 73. While individuals vary greatly, the disease will affect approximately one in 27 men and one in 89 women.
Continue to read on Egosancares blog about bladder cancer and how treatment might affect continence issues:
Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories.“I hold onto your book as a life preserver and am reading it slowly on purpose...I don't want it to end.” ...Craig William Dayton, Film Composer
R...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 4, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
