My Aging Parents Need Parenting
I’m in my 30s and live about a three-hour drive from my 60-year-old parents—we once used to live in the same town. Each time I return home to see them, I am increasingly concerned by how shabby and dirty their space is. Read more in Slate. Photo: Shutterstock / Joseph...
We need a queer and trans revolution in care for older adults
I’ve spent the past decade and a half feeling afraid of where I might end up living when I get older and need more care than my chosen family can provide. These fears first took root when I was a graduate student in my mid-twenties researching home care (supports and...
How To Care For Older People In The Pandemic
During this pandemic, I’ve been worried about my grandma — Nanay, to me. That’s Tagalog for mother. Her name is Felisa Mercene. She’s a Filipino American immigrant. She’s 92. Since March, she’s been living in isolation from most of our...
Keeping Older People Safe During the Coronavirus Crisis
In the United States today, there are approximately four million older adults who are not in nursing facilities but who need help with personal care (bathing, dressing or eating) and another 3.5 million older adults who need assistance in areas such as finances and...
What My Mom (And HIV) Taught Me About Caregiving
I was my 84-year-old mom’s live-in caregiver until her death last October. We shared a home for the last 10 years of her life because it was helpful for both of us. She needed someone to help carry in the groceries, and I needed a place to live. Like too many other...
The Caregiver’s Encyclopedia
I’d just finished Muriel Gillick’s Old and Sick in America, an eye-opening ‘narrative tour’ of the US eldercare system and its recent history, when her latest book, The Caregiver’s Encyclopedia landed on my desk. Gillick understand the...
Planning for a Disaster Doesn’t Have to Be One
It’s a scary world sometimes. We’re always hearing about disasters in the news. Tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires can displace thousands of people from their homes and cause millions of dollars in property damage. These events are difficult under the best of...
5 Red Flags to Look Out for When Choosing a Care Facility
If you need a little help with the decision-making process, be sure to steer clear of facilities that demonstrate any of these red flags.
When is it OK to “narc” on your Mom?
A “narc” is someone who informs on another person to the authorities, and you may feel like a “narc” when you report your aging parent’s difficulties to a doctor or other health care provider. Sometimes it is important for you to share...
6 Ways Caregivers Can Celebrate Senior Citizen’s Day, Every Day
Why wait a whole year to use Senior Citizen’s Day to spend time with a loved one? Take inspiration from this list to show older adults you care.
‘I Put My Own Life on Hold’: The Pain and Joy of Caring for Parents
Daughters said they sacrificed careers when their relatives wouldn’t. Others said hiring help sapped finances. And more than a few found treasured final moments with loved ones despite the overwhelming work of caring for them. After The Times published a pair of...
Photo Essay: Three States. Three Caregivers.
If you care for a parent or loved one, you almost certainly interact with doctors, nurses and other staff at hospitals, clinics or assisted living facilities. Depending on how age-friendly these professionals are, you either have felt reassured they understand the...
Caregiving Tips for Traveling with Seniors
Traveling with your family and friends can be a truly fantastic experience. However, it also calls for some caution and planning ahead if there’s a senior in your group. Here, we are going to take a look at some steps you can take to make sure your trips with a senior...
The Strange Political Silence On Elder Care
Millions of middle-aged women struggle to care for ailing older relatives, and the crisis is only getting worse. So why is no one talking about it? Baden-Mayer, a freckled forty-five-year-old, put her house on Airbnb three years ago and moved with her husband and two...
When a Bedbug Problem Snowballs into an Emergency
Campbell has lived in the same one-bedroom apartment for more than 20 years. Last October was the first time he had seen a bedbug. For seniors like Campbell, who live alone and who have reduced mobility and other health challenges, getting rid of bedbugs can be a...
How Family Caregivers Make Career and Elder Care Work
With the number of working Americans caring for an aging parent growing, you might expect that companies would be increasing benefits to help the family caregivers manage these duties. But according to the 2018 Employee Benefits Survey from the Society for Human...
How eldercare takes a toll on women’s careers and health – and how employers can help ease the stress
Two years ago Liz Rejman was ready to hop a flight to California for an important meeting, when she received a phone call from her elderly father’s assisted-living facility. He had broken his wrist. “You have to make choices. Does work come first in a moment when your...
How to Know if Your Loved One Needs Assistive Aids
One skill you’ll acquire as you grow as a caregiver is learning to recognize when your loved one needs help but doesn’t know how to ask for it. A frequent example of this is the need for assistive aids.
Protecting seniors from healthcare professionals who commit fraud
Our elderly loved ones can be vulnerable candidates for financial fraud. Those with memory issues or more serious forms of dementia can be especially tempting targets for unethical healthcare professionals who are entrusted with their care. Here are some examples:...
The Path To Our Destination Is Not Always a Straight One
There I was, stuck behind a school bus making its short stops and starts. This, after sitting in a construction zone for ten minutes, and this, after I had to take a different route so I could fill up my empty gas tank, something I should’ve done yesterday (let the...
Transitioning From 24-Hour Care to Live-In Care
Making care decisions for elderly parents or loved ones can be difficult, especially since so many factors influence care — from personal preference to location to health requirements. Professional caregivers provide a wide range of services, including 24-hour care...
6 Eye Related Issues Every Caregiver Caring for Seniors Must Know
Taking care of seniors with vision related problems can be quite the challenge. It requires training, soft skills and perseverance. And if you use the right methods and techniques, it can also prove to be extremely rewarding! However, in order to devise comprehensive...
10 Steps to Get Your Parents the Best Medicare Coverage
Learning about Medicare options is confusing enough when someone turns 65. It can be even more trying for caregivers who have to pick up the pieces where their parents left off. Having helped dozens of caregivers with their parents Medicare over the years, I can...
Weighing the pros and cons of a senior care home
The moment has come – it’s time to decide whether your beloved one must be placed in a senior care home. The decision is hard to make, and you might start having doubts about it. What if they won’t be taken proper care of? What if they’ll feel too lonely, and develop...
Helping a Loved One With Memory Issues Convey Accurate Information to Their Doctor
In the last few days 2 people have come to me for advice about an aging parent with memory issues who is not telling their doctor what is really going on. I had a similar experience with my 90 year old father. The doctor would ask him questions about how he was...
Forget seconding that emotion
In fact, keep emotions out of it and make sure you second that opinion People always hear about getting a second opinion. Many people even threaten to “get a second opinion,” but never do, although, when they do, at least one study suggests, they often get a differing...
No Fuss Clothing: Easy Wear Apparel Options for Seniors
If you need no fuss clothing or adaptive clothing, click here to discover Easy wear apparel options for seniors.
Unlocked And Loaded: Families Confront Dementia And Guns
With a bullet in her gut, her voice choked with pain, Dee Hill pleaded with the 911 dispatcher for help. “My husband accidentally shot me,” Hill, 75, of The Dalles, Ore., groaned on the May 16, 2015, call. “In the stomach, and he can’t talk, please …” Less than four...
LGBTQ seniors fear renewed discrimination in long-term care
When deteriorating health forced David McClure, who is 81, to enter first one Ottawa nursing home, and then another, he felt as though he was going back into the closet, after decades out of it. “I couldn’t let my gayness show,” he said. “The looks were very...Top Posts
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