Tips on How to Support Family Caregivers

Family caregivers know all too well how it is to feel invisible. Caring for someone you love takes center stage, and you may discover that your own needs are put on the back burner. A recent listening session, however, allowed family caregivers to speak honestly and openly about how to support family caregivers—and their feedback may surprise you. Here are some of the key findings and insights gleaned from these…

24-Hour Care to Help Seniors Age at Home Without Facing a Move

At first, caring for Mom may have just taken up a few hours of the week. But now, she’s starting to need help throughout most of the day and maybe even into the night. Now, you’re realizing Mom would feel most secure with someone around 24/7, ensuring her needs are met and ready to tackle any unexpected situations.

Careful Conversations: How to Approach Aging Parents’ Health Changes This Holiday

Heading home for the holidays can be a heartwarming experience filled with the warmth of family gatherings and the joy of reconnecting with loved ones. However, for many adult children, it can also be a time when the reality of their aging parents’ health changes becomes starkly apparent. If you’ve noticed Mom’s increasing forgetfulness or Dad’s declining mobility, you’re not alone – the holiday season often serves as a reality…

Alzheimer’s Care: Balancing the Responsibilities of Caregiving

Being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s is life-changing both for the person receiving the diagnosis and anyone who loves them. It is important for family caregivers to allow themselves ample time to prepare for the changes to come with the new responsibilities of caregiving and to discover a healthy way to sort out the assorted emotions that manifest.

Dementia Caregiving: Unexpected Factors to Watch

If you’re the caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s, then you know how much patience, flexibility, and willingness to expect the unexpected that dementia caregiving takes. On any given day, the person may experience a broad array of emotions: calm, angry, agitated, fearful, giddy, melancholy. As you modify your care strategy to correspond to the person’s demeanor, you also need to juggle management of a host of challenging symptoms: wandering, repetitive…

Coping With Inappropriate Behavior Caused by a Brain Injury

There are many different types of brain injuries, but certain behavioral difficulties are common regardless of the type of brain injury that occurs. Some inappropriate behaviors caused by a brain injury may be more or less likely based on the area and severity of the trauma, but your loved one might demonstrate one or more of these behaviors throughout TBI recovery, regardless of the specifics of the injury.

Caregiving With Your Siblings: Working With a Mediator

When you’re caregiving with your siblings to make sure the needs of your aging parents are satisfied, even the closest brothers and sisters can find themselves in disagreement. Stress levels and emotions are, of course, running high. Add to that your past family history and dynamics, which have a tendency to resurface during the course of challenging times, and it’s not hard to see how troublesome this stage in life…