I met with an adult child of a client earlier this week. When the family first came to me about a year ago, the wife had late-stage Parkinson’s and the husband had been her primary caregiver for many years. The husband was clearly experiencing the stress and fatigue of caregiver burnout. He realized he could […]
Does an Adult Child Have a Legal and/or Moral Duty to Become a Parent’s Caregiver?
Jane had a good childhood growing up in Virginia. However, she kept both an emotional and geographic distance from her mother for most of her adult life. The rift began after her parents’ divorce, which Jane blamed on her mother. They had only spoken a handful of times over the years. Jane’s mother missed many […]
President Biden Lists Eldercare and Childcare Alongside Roads and Bridges, as Crucial to the Nation’s Infrastructure
President Joe Biden launched weekly conversations with Americans to learn about what people across the country in different situations are facing, and to discuss how upcoming legislation could affect their lives. This week, the topic of the video released by the White House was caregiving. The video featured Susie, a caregiver from Texas. Susie describes […]
How Caregivers Can Help Prevent Falls
It’s the first week of fall and Fall Prevention Week 2020! A year before the Coronavirus pandemic, Miriam suffered repeated falls and a broken femur. After she spent time in a rehabilitation facility and participated in 3 months of private physical therapy, her mobility was still limited by a walker. Miriam was feeling helpless, depressed, […]
How to Safely Spend Time with Grandchildren on Grandparent’s Day (or Any Day)
Q. Grandparent’s Day is this Sunday and I would love for my children to see their grandparents. One set of grandparents are close by and have helped take care of them in the past, but are hesitant this year because of coronavirus. However, they are considering having us over this Sunday for a cookout. Another […]
When Caregiving Turns into Self Neglect
Q. I am concerned about my mother, Sharon. She is a caregiver for my 92-year-old grandmother, who lives with her and my father, who is not in the best of health himself. I saw my mother the other day when I stopped by for a visit. She looks emaciated and sleep deprived, and her personal […]
More Untrained Caregivers Performing Medical Tasks
At 49 years old, Emily is an accomplished accountant. She worked her way up in a prominent firm, but recently took a leave of absence to care for her father, Sid. She is married to her college sweetheart but doesn’t have any children. The only classes she ever took that were remotely close to nursing […]
Yikes! Our Top 10 Scariest Articles of 2018
Believe it or not, in Elder Law, Estate Planning, and Special Needs Planning, there are some news stories that sound more like the scary plots of horror movies than real life. The topics can be so horrifying that suddenly, you need to turn on all the lights just to read the news stories and do […]
Can Your Spouse Get Paid for Being Your Caregiver?
Joseph quit his full-time job to provide full-time care for his wife, Stephanie, who is suffering from early-onset dementia. He bathes and dresses her, prepares her meals, takes her blood pressure, gives her prescribed medications twice a day, and takes her to all of her medical appointments. Joseph had to quit his job to fulfill […]
Can Caregiving Lead to PTSD?
Q. I was a caregiver for my father-in-law two decades ago, and I experienced a terrible scare. I took him into my home when he developed fronto-temporal dementia and he lived with my family. He would get angry at me a lot and sometimes even violent, and it terrified me to be around him. I […]
Sign Language Gives People with Dementia a Way to Speak
John “Alec” Stephenson, an administrator at the Silverado Aspen Park memory care community in Salt Lake City, raised a son with a hearing impairment. As many parents of children who are hearing impaired, the family embraced sign language as a means to communicate with their son. Years later, Alec started a program to teach sign […]
When Caregiver Stress Becomes Extreme
Q. My aunt Rae, 84, was the primary caregiver for my Uncle Leo, who suffers from dementia. Leo would wander, so Rae couldn’t leave him alone, and she missed the conversations she and Leo used to have. Rae became resentful and depressed because she had to forego her dreams of world travel and didn’t even […]
Am I a Helicopter Child, and If So, Why is That a Bad Thing?
Q. I heard my sister and brother talking about my mother’s care the other day when they thought I couldn’t hear them. I distinctly remember them mentioning the term “helicopter child,” and they were referring to me! I have heard the term “helicopter” parent, and I know that it refers to someone who has the […]
Mistakes Adult Siblings Make When Caregiving for a Parent
Dear Bebe, When I was growing up, I was the organized one who was responsible and did what he was told, and my sister was also pretty on-top of things. My brother–not so much. Now, we are at a point where we need to work together to be caregivers for our dad, who lives in […]
The Ecosystem of Family Caregiving
Q. My family is new to caregiving, and we’re trying to figure out how to best support each other, but it seems like a tangled web. For instance, I am divorced, but I have a son who can help with practical responsibilities as I care for my mother with Parkinson’s disease in our home. My […]
Millennials are Emerging as a Generation of Caregivers
Q. My name is Kelsey, and I’m a junior in college. I lived on campus my first year but ended up moving back home when I learned that my mother needed caregiving help. College tuition is costly and so is caregiving, so I figured that I would save money on housing and having to hire […]
Resources for Millennial Caregivers
Dear Angel, I am 22 years old and I am a caregiver for my 80 year old grandmother. It is both challenging and rewarding. She is in a wheelchair and needs help cooking, dressing, and shopping for groceries. I am often concerned about her falling when she is transferring to her chair. Sometimes I get […]
Questions to Ask When Hiring a Home Health Agency
Dear Angel, Our mom had a pretty bad stroke recently, but fortunately it was not a massive stroke, and we will be able to bring her home soon. We’re looking for a home health agency to assist her when she comes home from the hospital. The hospital gave us the name of just one agency, […]
Can a Marriage Survive Caregiving for an In-Law?
Q. When my husband, Paul, first met my parents, they didn’t hit it off. He can be stubborn sometimes, and mom is difficult, and she never thought that he was good enough for me. After Thanksgiving dinner, when we announced we were engaged, my mother threw him out of her home, and my mother and […]
Long-Distance Caregivers: Making the Most of Your Role
Kate is concerned about her mother, a recent widow who lives alone in Kate’s childhood home in Fairfax County. Although Kate lives in Massachusetts, she grew up in Northern Virginia and it’s where her mother feels most comfortable. Kate’s mother’s decline in health since her father died requires Kate’s help and attention, but due to […]
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