While the enormous amount of information contained in When Your Aging Parent Needs Help could be overwhelming if presented by someone less skilled, Dr. K, as she’s known to her patients and readers, has a talent for making information accessible, even friendly. Read more →

Dear BG: You are not in any way a bad daughter. In fact, you sound like a smart, loving daughter with insight. You’re intuitive enough to acknowledge that becoming a long-term, full-time caregiver would not work for you. Acceptance of this fact without judgment... Read more →

Emergency-room doctor Kevin Haselhorst had an epiphany while he tried valiantly to save an elderly man who’d been through one-too-many traumas. His book, “Wishes To Die For: A Caregiver’s Guide to Advance Care Directives,” was the first step toward a new advocacy. Dr. Haselhorst continues to work toward helping people understand the importance of healthcare directives and the ability to make their own decisions about end-of-life care. Curious about more of Dr. Haselhorst’s views, the Candid Caregiver contacted him through email for the following interview. Read more →

believe that fear is the foundation of much of a senior’s reluctance and even disrespect for non-family caregivers. The presence of an outsider may suggest to them that their family can't (or doesn't want to) take care of their needs. It also magnifies Read more →

Dear KT: While it isn’t exceptionally common, grooming older adults in order to scam them does happen under circumstances that you described. Of course, it also happens in families where some adult children don’t want to see that money “wasted” on providing care. Read more →

Life changing, yes! And perhaps a moment of divine intervention. An elderly man with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) was rushed to the cardiac cath lab after being diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction (MI). He was struggling to breathe, yet Read more →

It makes sense that she wants to take charge of her own future so she can determine how much more she wants to continue to fight for what sounds like a decreasing quality of life. Your mom’s correct in that a do not resuscitate order is not always enough when it comes to end-of-life Read more →

Dear DE: I’m glad that your parents are doing well. Contrary to popular opinion, many people in their 80s are capable of handling their own lives with little assistance. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t experiencing ... Read more →

Dear LS: First, let me say that I’m deeply sorry that your childhood was so hard. You aren’t alone with this kind of pain, but that doesn’t make the fact that you never had the protection that a child deserves any easier. Read more →

Dear YT: I’m sorry about your mother’s poor health. She’s obviously a fighter to have survived so much. It makes sense that she wants to take charge of her own future so she can determine how much more she wants to continue to fight for what sounds... Read more →