Dear Ernie and Jannette, I am a caregiver for my husband, an army veteran named Steve. He gets regular treatment for a mild traumatic brain injury and for persistent migraines. He has countless appointments through our local Veteran Affairs (VA) hospital. We work together to make sure he’s getting what he needs and can keep […]
Is the FAMILY Act the Answer to the Caregiving Crisis?
Joan Lunden, former host of Good Morning America and spokesperson for A Place for Mom is more than just an actress, journalist, and TV personality. She is an activist for reform for caregivers, who recently spoke in front of Congress at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. She expressed how she believes “(w)e are […]
How Taxes Work if You Have a Paid In-Home Caregiver
Stacey, an only child, was an in-home caregiver for her ailing mother for several years. She lived with her mom and cared for her while she completed college and graduate school, and even after she got married. However, after three children, one of whom has special needs, caring for her mother and her children became […]
Parenting Your Parents: When They Won’t Accept Help
Allison’s 80-year-old mother, Roberta, is a homemaker who raised four successful children. When her children were younger, her husband worked late and traveled a lot for his job, so she did everything from cooking dinner, helping with homework, and preparing lunches each day to getting kids ready for bed and driving them everywhere. Roberta has […]
Caregivers and Planning for Retirement
Dear Bebe, I stopped working full time when I was 45 to begin caregiving for my mother and it’s been fifteen years now. I have worked part time jobs here and there, but I have nothing that’s going to provide me any type of pension income (other than a small amount of Social Security income) […]
National Volunteer Program Will Help Seniors Age-in-Place
Evelyn lives on her own in her one-story family home in Vienna, VA. Her family visits when they can, but with work and the grandchildren’s sports schedules, it’s not nearly enough. Evelyn often feels lonely and could use some companionship once in a while. She would certainly welcome help with rides to doctor’s appointments, assistance […]
AARP Report Examines Today’s Family Caregivers
Sharon is a caregiver for her mother, Deedee, who is 81 years old and lives with dementia. Similar to many caregivers, Sharon balances the increasing caregiving needs of her mother with her other commitments, including her job. By day, Sharon works for a technology firm; by night, she is home with her mom. She moved […]
The Healing Power of Communication
Jay Monahan was married to award-winning journalist, Katie Couric, for nearly 10 years and they had two daughters together. He died in 1998 at age 42 of colon cancer and, sadly, Katie’s sister, a Virginia state senator, also died of cancer three years later. Having been struck by cancer’s devastating toll not only with the […]
Do You Know Your Rights as a Caregiver?
Meryl cares for her mother, who is suffering from dementia. She works part-time in her home as a medical transcriptionist and also cares for her three children. With all that she has to do on a daily basis, Meryl rarely, if ever, has time for herself and is beginning to feel the impact. Meryl recently […]
From Grief to Compassion: The Changing Face of Alzheimer’s Care
Marie sits at a table in the dining room at the memory care center, reading the Washington Post and sipping some iced tea. She greets a visitor who enters with a big smile. She points out the view of a quiet tree-lined street beyond, visible through a wall of windows. Marie makes conversation with the […]
Being Shamed for Your Nursing Home Decision
This past weekend, Kathryn hosted a graduation party for her daughter and was excited to spend time with the family and friends that came to celebrate. For the past few years, she hadn’t had much time to visit with friends or family with all of the caregiving duties she had for her mother, who suffers […]
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 […]
Do Caregivers Have a Higher Life-Expectancy?
Dear Magic, I read somewhere that caregivers have a higher life-expectancy than non-caregivers. With all of the stress that goes into caregiving, how can this be true? Thanks for your help! Liv Longer — Dear Liv, What you read is true! Studies show that by helping others, we’re actually helping ourselves, too. There is Great […]
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 […]
When Your Adult Child Distances Themselves
Carla, age 38, is a helpful and caring adult daughter. She lives five miles from her parents and assists her mother with caregiving for her father, who suffers from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. She scaled back her hours at work and made arrangements for aftercare for her children so she could stay with her father longer. […]
Caregiving for Veterans — There’s a Map for That
John was an Army officer who was struck by a bomb blast that threw him 20 feet from where he was standing while on a patrol. After a few months of recovery, John’s family realized something was very wrong. He began having spells of confusion and memory loss, and as he got older, things got […]
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 […]
The 7 Stages of Alzheimer’s
Q. I recently heard that Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice, announced that she has Alzheimer’s disease. Her son explained how she overcame so many obstacles in her life that she was convinced that she could power through Alzheimer’s as well, but sadly you can’t. He describes how she still loves having […]
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 […]
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