- Adult Day Services
- Aging in Place
- Caregiver Burnout
- Caregiver Support
- Communicating with Loved Ones
- Dealing with Grief & Guilt
- Nursing Homes
- Get Organized: Tools for Caregiving
- Handling Dementia Behaviors
- Hospitalization
- Respite
- Senior Driving Issues
A Daughter’s Memoir: My Mother’s Cake Plate
I have never been much of a cook, but I love to bake and I have many wonderful memories of baking with my mother as I grew up. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were our favorite, but there were honey cakes and butter cookies, linzer tortes, and a terrific Hungarian yeast bread that defies anything I have tasted since. So it’s not surprising that one of my favorite things from my mother after she died was a glass cake plate...Read the rest of this article »
Long Distance Caregiving: How a Geriatric Care Manager Can Help You
Last month I received two comments about long-distance caregiving, a situation that is all too common and always challenging. Caregiving is sometimes a complicated task, and any difficulty can become magnified by the sense and reality of your being far away. Caregivers who reside at a distance from their loved ones often experience feelings of anxiety, lack of control and guilt. My best advice is to plan ahead. Familiarize yourself with services in your loved one’s area, or call a...Read the rest of this article »
Baby Boomer Women Sandwiched Between Caring for Parents & Children
I troll the Internet—a lot—as it is part of my job to find out what other people are saying about health and long-term care topics. I have found some weird things. I have also found some very profound blogs; some of the most interesting and heartfelt ones document the experiences of individual family caregivers. After reading through a few yesterday, I decided to add to the discussion. A study published in November of 2006, Squeezed Between Children and Older Parents:...Read the rest of this article »
Dealing With End of Life Issues
When my uncle died unexpectedly last year, my mother and aunt went to tell my grandmother together. I wasn’t there when it happened. I only know that after her initial emotional reaction, she told them, “That’s what happens in life. People live and then they die.” My grammy expressed wisdom my years could not rival, which got me thinking about death’s effects on families and friends. With this in mind, I decided to find some answers to the question:...Read the rest of this article »
Half-birthdays: Finding Joy in Small Things
My grandmother called to let me know that we were going to start celebrating her half-birthday.“At my age...” I finished her sentence, “You want even more attention? Isn’t being 92 enough? Now you want to be noted for being 92-and-a-half?” “Well, yes. I guess I do.” “Ok, I’m not going to argue with a 92-and-a-half-year-old.” “Good, what time is my half-birthday dinner?” She has a point. In previous postings I have written a few “how-to” pieces and also discussed the...Read the rest of this article »
