Alzheimer’s Disease is an illness that causes people to lose the ability to remember, think, and use good judgment. Over time, as the disease worsens, those affected will have trouble with self-care and will need caregiving assistance; for those aging in place, a family caregiver is often involved. Family caregivers typically experience mixed emotions. Sometimes, […]
Elder Abuse is a “Public Health Crisis”
Q. Not long ago, my mother, who is in her 80s, was the victim of financial exploitation by an in-home health aide. It started with trips to the grocery store and small loans. Before long, the caregiver was regularly taking my mother and her credit card to the mall to purchase clothes and other items […]
8 Things You Can Do to Prevent Elder Abuse
Dear Commander Bun Bun, I heard that elder abuse can include physical, financial, emotional, or psychological abuse, or abandonment and neglect, and am alarmed at how common it is. What are some ways to prevent elder abuse in my family and in the community? Best, Anita Stoppitt —- Dear Anita, Every year an estimated 5 million older Americans are victims of elder […]
Can Family Caregivers Get Compensated?
Q. My father, Jack, is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and has limited mobility due to other ailments. He currently lives alone at home and needs a lot of assistance. He has been a great dad, always putting my needs before his own. Now, I am doing the same for him. I recently got […]
Services for Family Caregivers of Post 9/11 Veterans
Dear Baxter,I am a caregiver for my mother, who is a post-9/11 veteran and sustained a traumatic brain injury in the line of duty. Do you know of any benefits for caregivers in my situation?Thanks, Karen Forr-Mahero —– Dear Karen, Please thank your mother for her service to our country, and thanks to you for […]
Appliances That Speak to Each Other, and Other Incredible Aging-in-Place Technology
Robear Robot When Carol’s mother, Eleanor, had a stroke a few years back, she and her husband moved in with her. Eleanor was not very steady on her feet, and surfed the furniture to get around. Carol and her husband were always worried about her falling, especially in the bathroom. They became reluctant to leave her alone so, like Eleanor, they too became housebound. Carol and her […]
PBS Releases “Caring for Mom and Dad” Documentary
Graphic from pbs.org. Chris Olson was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and her husband, Brent, has prostate cancer. They lived alone, 300 miles away from their nearest daughter, and needed assistance. Their daughter, Breanna, who was beginning a promising political career, and her sister Shanna, a working mother of two, decided to put their careers on […]
Protecting My Mother from Scams
Dear Angel, I recently visited my 80-year old mother, who is in the early stages of dementia. I noticed boxes of items that were mailed to her, including tons of magazines about body building and deep sea fishing (both of which don’t interest her), and a pile of sweepstakes she entered. I would like to […]
Informal Home Care Could Result in Medicaid Ineligibility
Betty Jensen was an elderly woman with dementia, who resided in her home in Muskegon, Michigan. In May 2011, when she needed assistance, her concerned grandson, Jason, acted on her behalf and hired a non-relative, Teresa Alexander, to serve as her Caregiver. Hiring a Caregiver When hiring the Caregiver, Jason entered into an informal agreement […]
Finding the Right Nursing Home
Carol and Bob invited his mother, Ginny, to spend the holidays with them, as she does every year. This year, her live-in caregiver expressed concern that it was not a good idea because Ginny’s dementia has gotten worse and she may not recognize her own grandchildren. Ginny cannot do much independently anymore and needs help […]
Reducing Holiday Stress for Seniors & Caregivers
Mary Ellen’s father, Hal, suffers from dementia and his health is declining rapidly. Her husband travels often and her mother recently had knee replacement surgery and has trouble getting around. Every night after work, she drops her children off at dance, tae kwon do, or soccer, and goes over to her parents’ house to help […]
Caregiving in Other Countries- What We Can Learn
Each November, National Family Caregivers Month focuses on the challenges facing family caregivers. Sponsored each year by the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA), this commemorative month recognizes more than 50 million family caregivers who spend an estimated 30 billion hours every year providing emotional, financial, nursing, social, homemaking, and other services to friends and loved ones. The estimated value of these caregiving services, if paid, would […]
Halloween Can Be Scary for those with Dementia
Q. My mother-in-law has dementia and lives at home with a caregiver to assist her with activities of daily living. Before she was diagnosed, she loved Halloween, especially all the decorations, seeing the grandchildren dressed up in costumes, and the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The children also loved trick-or-treating at her home, because she would go all […]
Caution: Our Top 10 SCARIEST Articles
With Halloween upon us, it is time to present you, our dear readers, with this year’s scariest & creepiest stories. From the nightmare of probate to court cases involving filial responsibility, we uncovered some scary ground. To celebrate Halloween, we’ve ranked our scariest articles for you to revisit (if you dare). As always, thank you […]
Caregiving Across the Miles
Q. I live in Northern Virginia, 700 miles away from my parents, who are in Florida. My father has Parkinson’s and insists on staying in our family home. His mobility has diminished, and I worry about him falling nearly every day. I cannot move closer because of my husband’s government job and my job, and the quality of […]
Caring for a Difficult Parent
Q. Throughout my life, my mother has always been a difficult person. She complains about everything and is hyper-critical, overbearing and, as you can imagine, hard to get along with. She always compares me to my older sister, who is successful and has a big family, and berates me for being overweight and for taking […]
NASA SmartWatch, Implanted Health Devices, and Other New Technology for Seniors
Is Grandpa going gadget-crazy? Not quite yet, but we are getting there. According to a recent Pew Research survey, the number of older adults using the internet and related tech devices is increasing, with 59% of seniors reporting that they go online and 77% of older adults reporting that they have a cell phone. The Pew Research […]
Caring for Caregivers
Taking care of an older or ill family member can be enormously rewarding — but it can be physically and emotionally draining. And with the number of Americans age 65-plus projected to double by 2030, caregiving demands will only increase. Studies about caregivers show that: 40- 70% of caregivers show signs of depression; One-third of […]
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