...My first step is to answer the writer’s email providing whatever comfort and resources I can. Then, depending on their question, I’ll consider the topic in view of the column to decide Read more →
Entries categorized "In-home care"
Dear CE: Lack of consistency is understandably hard for older adults. Who wants strangers to come into their home to help them shower? Unfortunately, low staffing has been an issue for years, and of course, after our intense COVID challenges... Read more →
While many people can use music as a healing tool or even to help a loved one through the death process, the profession of music thanatology requires a deep understanding of medical issues and music and how both these things affect the mind and body. Read more →
...What to do? As with most dementia-related challenges, there are no miracles, and what works one day may not the next. However, there are some things that you can try. Most of these tips stem from increased knowledge about what can trigger rebellion in a person living with dementia. Let’s take a look. Read more →
...Caregiving decisions are nearly always a matter of trade-offs. Balancing the benefits and risks of each scenario and then finally deciding — often through our tears — that this (whatever “this” might be) is what must be done. And, there’s the rub: Read more →
...The biggest advantage of home care is that it allows elders to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. This option is far less disorienting for a dementia patient than a move to an assisted living facility, a memory care unit or a nursing home. Familiar environments offer a great deal of security and peace of mind for individuals with memory issues. If a company Read more →
...It is challenging to cope with how age, illness and caregiving alter our relationships, especially those between adult children and their parents. Many refer to it as a role reversal, but this is not a dignified way of framing these changes. So, how do we keep our attitudes Read more →
...What is a caregiver to do when they find themselves struggling with their living situation? A lot depends on the background and details surrounding one’s unique arrangement. Most family caregivers embrace living with their parents because they want the best for them. They take on the responsibility out of love and/or necessity. Some caregivers move in Read more →
...An even more common situation, however, is when caregivers are responsible for looking after two or more elders who are ill and live in varying locations, sometimes over long distances. It’s a circumstance that I know well. During my busiest eldercare years, I was the Read more →
...Naturally, adult children of a couple such as the one described above would expect the surviving parent to go through the grief process and need a lot of comfort and care for a while. However, more often than many would expect, Read more →