How to Take a Break from Caregiving (And Why You Need to)
“You can make it, but it’s easier if you don’t have to do it alone.” – Betty Ford We all know that no individual can function as an island, something that especially holds when caring for a parent with dementia. Yet many family caregivers stumble when it comes to asking for or accepting the help […]
The One Phrase to Avoid When Caring for Elderly Parents
As our parents age, it’s not necessarily simple to know exactly what our role as adult children must be. We’d like what is best for them, but if we’re not cautious, we’ll overstep our boundaries and find ourselves attempting to parent our parents. This is also true when safety is a concern. There’s a thin […]
Balancing Family Caregiving and Work Responsibilities Post-Pandemic
If there is one particular positive after-effect of the pandemic, it’s the attention generated for family caregiving. Managing work and home life has long been a tremendous challenge for anyone caring for a senior relative. As Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, CEO of Wellthy, explains, “Caregiving went from a silent struggle to being in the spotlight overnight.” Employers […]
Tips to Help Overcome Family Caregiver Dread
What are your first thoughts as soon as you wake up each morning? Are you looking forward to what the day holds, or would you like to crawl back underneath the covers and stay there? If you are feeling more dread than delight as you think through your family caregiver responsibilities for the day, you’re […]
Advice for Becoming a Caregiver for a Family Member
It may have come totally without warning: an unexpected fall that led to a fractured hip and the requirement for Dad to have assistance to stay at home. Or, it may have been building up over the years, such as through the slow and incremental progression of Alzheimer’s disease. No matter the circumstances, you have […]
Long Distance Caregiving Tips: Assessing an Aging Parent’s Mental Health
The isolation and fear caused by COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the wellbeing of older adults, with nearly half of seniors surveyed in a Kaiser Family Foundation poll stating that their amount of stress and worry was negatively impacting their health. And while it still may be unsafe to visit in person with older adults, […]
How to Free Yourself of Caregiver Guilt
Family care providers give a great deal of themselves to take care of their loved ones, frequently surrendering their own desires and needs in the process. It may seem natural to assume then that caregivers would feel good about themselves, with high self-esteem and sense of purpose. However, the opposite is oftentimes true, with many […]
How to Handle False Accusations When Caring for Someone with Dementia
It may come seemingly out of thin air: you put your loved one’s favorite tuna sandwich in front of her – light on the mayo, no onions – something which usually brings her enjoyment. But today, she forces the plate away and refuses to take a bite, insisting that you’ve poisoned the sandwich. Or, you’ve […]
How to Respond When a Loved One with Alzheimer’s Has Loss of Inhibitions
Awkwardness. Discomfort. Disbelief. Shame. Most of these feelings can cycle through a family caregiver’s heart when your family member with Alzheimer’s disease displays disinhibited behaviors, such as: Rude or tactless comments Unacceptable sexual advances or remarks Removal of clothes at improper times And other socially unacceptable actions The complex changes that occur to the brain […]
A New Disease That Mimics Alzheimer’s: LATE
An individual who exhibits memory loss, confusion, poor judgment, repetition, and challenges with performing daily activities has the telltale symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, right? As a matter of fact, what seems to be an obvious case of Alzheimer’s may in fact be a recently discovered dementia. Known as LATE, or limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, this […]