by External Article | Oct 11, 2022 | 24/7 Caregiving, Caring for a Grandparent, Caring for a Parent, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation |
“My mom was taking care of her mom, who had Alzheimer’s, [and] not telling anybody how hard it was or that she needed help, or that it was completely stressing her out,” Revere says. “And then it became about me coming home to be in a house... 
by External Article | Aug 6, 2021 | 24/7 Caregiving, Care Work Library, Caregiver News, Long Term Caregiving |
For over a century, people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers have been caught in a vortex of uneven, frustrating progress. Even as late as the 1990s, medicine didn’t care much about people living with Alzheimer’s, which totals about 280,000 in... 
by External Article | Feb 5, 2021 | Caring for a Parent, Generation Z, Long Distance Caregiving, Long Term Caregiving, Occasional Caregiving |
Almost five years ago, when my father was 62, he learned he had Alzheimer’s disease. Over this time, my mother and I have watched his decline. He forgets his friends’ names and can no longer read. Every morning, he sits in a baby blue polka-dot towel and waits for one... 
by External Article | Dec 9, 2020 | 24/7 Caregiving, Baby Boom Generation, Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Housing, Long Term Caregiving |
Like her mother, who had worked as a nurse in a factory, my mother found her calling in caring for others. Between raising my sisters and me, she taught special education, ran a women’s crisis hotline, volunteered at the state prison to teach reading, worked at the... 
by External Article | Aug 28, 2020 | Care Work Library, Caregiver Stories |
Early on, they wrote me a letter encouraging me to reconsider my decision to become a man. The message, while cruel, was likely founded in misinformation, fear and concern for me, but that was no comfort in the midst of a life-changing journey, which now would not... 
by Guest Author | May 5, 2020 | Caring for a Parent, Finding Meaning, Long Term Caregiving |
“I am in a bind. I have a problem and I need your help,” came the voice over the telephone. My husband and I had just sat down to a late night dinner after a long day of his highly concentrating work as a patent examiner and my juggling a new writing career and... 
by External Article | Sep 26, 2019 | Art, Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Finances, Finding Caregiver Support, Generation X |
When Ted Rall’s mother started showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, it meant that Rall, who is an only child, had to navigate nursing homes and crushing medical bills without the help of siblings. “It’s incredibly isolating,” he said. For the first time in his... 
by External Article | Sep 19, 2019 | Baby Boom Generation, Care Work Library, Caring for a Romantic Partner |
Through her long illness, I was Joan’s primary family-carer. I had devoted my professional life as a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist to studying, teaching and practicing care for chronic conditions, including dementia. I should have been able to handle this... 
by External Article | Sep 2, 2019 | 24/7 Caregiving, Baby Boom Generation, Care Work Library, For Professional Caregivers |
Since mid-January, Marjorie has been Bob Dettmer’sround-the-clock caretaker. Bob is fogged in by Alzheimer’s and unsteady from Parkinson’s. Marjorie’s job is called home health aide, but the term does not begin to encompass her duties. She is social... 
by External Article | Jul 24, 2019 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X |
Sean Hayes is speaking out about a topic close to his heart: caregiving for his mother during her battle with Alzheimer’s disease, and how it affected his own well-being. “Being a caregiver is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” the Will &... 
by Guest Author | Jul 16, 2019 | Caring for a Parent |
Guilt. Everyone feels it. Everyone talks about it. Everyone tries their best to avoid it by doing the right thing. But, no one ever tells you that there really is no way around it. Sometimes, no matter how many good things you do, you still find something to feel... by External Article | Jun 25, 2019 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Relative |
My family is elderly, and my aunt — who is in her late 70s — was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. If someone does not go with her to appointments, she often forgets what was discussed, including medication, follow-up appointments or even why surgery is scheduled.... 
by External Article | May 30, 2019 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Child, Caring for a Parent |
I touch my father’s shoulder to let him know we’re here, but – for the first time – he doesn’t recognize me. My daughter Charlotte notices and hides a quiet weep. I start to worry. Dad’s memory has deteriorated even in the last month. I wonder whether I should have... 
by Guest Author | Mar 12, 2019 | Caring for a Parent, Finding Meaning, Long Term Caregiving |
My husband and I are currently under contract on a beautiful house here in Florida. For the first time, I am actually excited about living in Florida. Hell, this is the first time in a very long time that I’m actually excited about anything at all. I’m just not a very... 
by External Article | Feb 21, 2019 | 24/7 Caregiving, Care Work Library, Caring for a Grandparent, Caring for a Parent, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Finding Meaning |
Alzheimer’s is now the diagnosis Americans fear most. Fewer than half of patients diagnosed with ALZ are told. “The main framework America has available to contend with this is . . . that it’s a terrible, destructive ride all the way down and then you die,” he... by External Article | Jan 29, 2019 | 24/7 Caregiving, Baby Boom Generation, Care Work Library, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Long Term Caregiving |
20 years ago, when B. Smith was on TV, on the cover of magazines and books, when she had restaurants, when everyone seemed to call her “the black Martha Stewart,” as if it weren’t enough to just be B. Smith. Six years ago, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.... by Guest Author | Dec 21, 2018 | Caring for a Romantic Partner, Planning |
I was asked by people to share what it means to be a caretaker several months ago. What does it mean, had me reflect back to the start. Twenty years ago my wife was diagnosed with borderline functioning disorder and schizophrenia. Started with revelations of sick pets... 
by External Article | Dec 6, 2018 | Art, Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Long Term Caregiving |
At first, Stephen DiRado thought his dad was dealing with depression. Gene DiRado, then in his late 50s, had become more withdrawn, more forgetful. So Stephen processed his growing concern by doing what he’d done since the age of 12: taking photographs.it was... 
by External Article | Dec 1, 2018 | 24/7 Caregiving, Care Work Library, Housing, Long Term Caregiving |
This is Town Square, a daytime care facility for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia that attempts to engage participants with reminiscence therapy. The idea is to evoke an earlier era, which prompts participants to hark back to their most powerful memories,... 
by Lickety Glitz | Nov 23, 2018 | 24/7 Caregiving, Baby Boom Generation, Caring for a Parent, Long Term Caregiving |
Not near as sexy as it sounds. The ability to identify my sister and I by name left Mom a long time ago. The first time I realized this I was screwing around in the back yard, peripherally hearing someone say “Girl? Girl?” As I realized it was my... 
by Lickety Glitz | Oct 24, 2018 | 24/7 Caregiving, Baby Boom Generation, Caring for a Parent, Long Term Caregiving |
You know, as you do. This week I dropped Mom off at her Wednesday afternoon respite. She was not pleased to be there. When we walked in the door, she looked around and flat-out said “No!” I knew I was in for trouble. I coaxed her further in, told her it... 
by Kaiser Health News | Oct 16, 2018 | Caring for a Romantic Partner, Finding Caregiver Support |
Vicki Bartholomew started a support group for wives who are caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s disease because she needed that sort of group herself. They meet every month in a conference room at a new memory-care facility in Nashville called Abe’s Garden, where... 
by External Article | Oct 8, 2018 | 24/7 Caregiving, Care Work Library, Caring for a Grandparent, Caring for a Parent, Caring for a Relative, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Housing, Long Distance Caregiving, Long Term Caregiving |
When do we owe people the full truth about their lives? What happens when people cannot understand the truth or cannot accept the truth, so insisting on it only causes them repeated pain? The streetscape at the Lantern, the home at Chagrin Valley, is particularly... 
by Guest Author | Oct 4, 2018 | Caring for a Parent, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Finding Caregiver Support, Housing, Long Distance Caregiving |
One day, Shelly Beach received an alarming phone call from a member of a group that dined out with her parents every week. “Your dad passed out today at the Old Country Buffet. He was taken away in an ambulance,” the family friend told her. “And your mother just kept... 
by Lickety Glitz | Sep 22, 2018 | 24/7 Caregiving, Baby Boom Generation, Caregiver Stories, Caring for a Parent, Long Term Caregiving |
It’s here again. That strangled feeling. That desire to shake Mom off me. To push her away. To forcefully seize and hold just two feet of personal space of my own; erect an invisible barrier that prevents her from encroaching on me, burying me alive with her... 
by External Article | Aug 8, 2018 | After Caregiving, Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Finding Caregiver Support, Grief, Millennial Generation |
After his father dies of Alzheimer’s, Chris Garcia and his fellow comedians accidentally formed the Dead Parent Society. They navigate the world of grief through dark humor. Listen on Death, Sex & Money. by External Article | Jul 6, 2018 | 24/7 Caregiving, Care Work Library, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Finding Caregiver Support, Housing, Long Term Caregiving, Silent generation |
Vicki Bartholomew started a support group for wives who are caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s disease because she needed that sort of group herself. “My husband’s still living, and now I’m in an even more difficult situation — I’m... 
by External Article | Jun 16, 2018 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Grief, Housing, Long Term Caregiving, Occasional Caregiving |
You are forgetful sometimes, but living in purgatory, unremembering what happened five minutes ago, is probably a blessing. How else to cope with the horror of your life? Buried alive as you are within the confines of a bed and a wall is a daily reminder of death.... 
by External Article | May 15, 2018 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Grandparent, Caring for a Parent, Death & Dying, Grief, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation |
I knew my father abused drugs. I watched that man abuse drugs since I was five. I had memorized the shape and texture of the turquoise tiles of our old bathroom floor. I picked my unconscious father off of that tiled floor more than once. The weirdest part of his... 
by External Article | Mar 27, 2018 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Grandparent, Caring for a Parent, Finances, Housing, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation |
The first thing she did when she made it big was to help her family, as many newly rich celebrities do. But her gesture has a poignant backstory. Haddish’s first big financial move was to get her mom out of a mental institution, she told GQ. When Haddish was 8, her... 
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