Minding Our Elders - A voice for caregivers | Blog on eldercare and aging

Minding Our Elders Blog

How Caregiving Can Help Us Rethink the Meaning of Motherhood

To me, the definition of a mother is someone who nurtures. Yes, carrying a child in your womb for months and then giving birth...

This indoor picture shows a white wall in the background. In the foreground, a woman with very long brown hair lifts her arms from the elbow with hands palm up in exasperation. Her angry expression shows her with an open mouth and squinted eyes, head bent downard so we biew alomes from the top. She wears a simple gray tank top.

Some Adult Siblings Care More About Their Inheritance Than Mom and Dad’s Care

“We don’t want strangers taking care of Mom!” “We promised Dad he would never have to go to a nursing home!” “If you really...

Needing a Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gift? How About One That’s Both Fun and Meaningful?

Gift giving for older adults can feel complicated, but it needn’t be. KOSMOS Gifts offers legacy time capsules that intrigue me. The gift recipient...

This image shows a multi-generational family walking joyfully down a country road. We see evergreens in the near background and other trees further back. The family in fore ground shows an adult male wiht dark skin wiearing an oversided white tee, a blue palid open flanner, jeans ad boots. He hold the uprased hand of a child who ears an orange lon-sleeved sweather dark blue scarf around shoulders, light blue jeans and boots. The child holds the other hand up to grabe the hand of a oman with long dark curly hair, a brown and white plaid, pullover sweater, jeans and boots. Behind them all is an older, white haired man wearing a brown jacket open over a blue shirt. He also wears jeans but with casual trainers.

Balancing Elder Care with Other Relationships

Becoming a family caregiver is often something that either happens very suddenly or slowly sneaks up on a person. When a loved one has...

This image shows a gate to an outdoor garden. The wrought iron gate is turquoise. In for foreground, we see an older couple with the woman standing beside her seated husband who holds a decorative wood cane uplifted against his chest. Both of them have short white hair, medium toned skin, and sober expressions. The woman wears a black and white narrow striped dress with a back collar. Her arm rests outward against the chair back behind the man. The man wears a plaid flannel garment buttoned mid- hest with a barely visible gray tee shirt under it.

Should You Convince Your Aging Parents to Move Closer to You?

As a columnist for a newspaper on the northern plains, I often have readers write me that they are begging their parents to “come...

This outdoor image shows a park in the background with people milling around. IN the foreground, we see an older man with thinning gray hair wearing a gray sweater vest over a long sleeved shirt. He is dancing with a younger woman who has shoulder length, curly brown hair. Shes' wearing a read top. They appear to be related.

Adult Daughter Upset that Dad Doesn’t Take Pre-Diabetes Seriously

Dear Carol: My 69-year-old father is overweight, sedentary, and he loves junk food. There’s no point in nagging him about his poor lifestyle choices...

An older couple is shown against a white background. They are both smiling. The woman has shorter brown, curly hair, and is wearing white, short-sleeve top. She holds her arm upward, so we see a bold bracelet. An older mane claps her hand from the back. He is wearing a white tee shirt and a small gold chair, plus a gold watch on his upraised arm. He wears dark wire-rimmed glasses, a trimmed beard and has thick but trimmed white hair.

How to Keep Seniors Active and Engaged

I recently spoke with a caregiver named Ann who was struggling with how to adapt to life as a caregiver. For the last several...

The indoor background is blurred. IN the foreground, we see an older dark skinned woman with short gray hair. She has a blue ribbon tied around her head. The blue blends with her brown top that has blue and red in the print. Under her short sleeved top, we see she is wearing a long-sleeved brown top. He expression ois one of pleasure as she holds her arms up to be guided in dance by a younger drak-skinned man. We only see a porteion of his face but he has a dark mustaches. His had that holds th arm of the woman wears a wedding ring.

Adult Day Services Can Fill a Gap for Seniors and Their Caregivers

Most older adults are keen on staying in their homes as they age, but family caregivers often struggle to meet their loved ones’ needs...

This black and white image has a plain dark background. In the foreground is an older African American woman with curly white hair. Whe's got her eyes closed and is wearing a sad expression, with her head tilted upward. She's wearing a light colored print top.

How to Talk About a Friend’s Death When Someone Has Dementia

A friend recently faced the task of letting her mother, who has mid-level dementia, know that the mother’s elderly brother had died. This death...

Caring for Aging Parents Who Didn’t Care for You

Years ago, a journalist (we’ll call her Nancy) requested an interview with me to discuss common caregiving issues for an article she was writing....

This outdoor images shows blurred green bushes over some brick in the background. In the foreground, we see an older man with thick white hair and light skin wearing navy blue button up shirt. He is looking slight downward as he covers his mouth and one cheek with his left hand. We see a gold wedding band on his ring finger.

Caregiver Guilt: How to Stop Feeling Guilty About Elderly Parents

Get used to it—the guilt, I mean. The incessant phone call thing was just one of the many games I had to play as...