Minding Our Elders

Minding Our Elders Blog

A vintage, faded color photo shows a group of older adults standing together, enjoying having their picture taken.

Once Close Friends Often Drift Away after Dementia Diagnosis

Dear Carol: My 67-year-old mother struggles to care for her 75-year-old husband with Alzheimer’s. In many ways, things are going pretty well,...

A woman with short brown hair sits in a wheelchair with her head turned toward another woman with long brown hair who appears to be a caregiver. In the lower left corner is a circle that shows a turquoise SenecaSense pod.

Experiencing Incontinence? Restore Comfort and Confidence with SenecaSense Home

No more unnecessary brief checks. Get smart alerts when it’s the right time to replace the brief SenecaSense Home: Discreet Support That...

An indoor image of Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH. She stands against a gray background wearing a dark dress jacket open over a dark top with black beads and dainty earrings. She looks into the camera with a soft smile.

Free Caregiver Training with Support from a Geriatrician and More

Caregivers are often thrown into an unknown world of medication management and handling cognitive challenges. With little or no medical training, this...

When a Person with Dementia Says, ‘I Just Want to Go Home’

“I want to go home.” Nearly every dementia caregiver has heard this heartbreaking plea from their loved one. They may already be...

A tall painter's ladder rests agaist a wall that's been torn open to show the backing. The viewer sees unfinished patched plaster or drywall on the side.

A Caregiver’s Struggle: Balancing an Elder’s Sense of Purpose with Their Safety

As caregivers, we walk a thin line between keeping our loved ones safe and helping to preserve their independence. One of my...

Cover of Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. The background is a sepia-toned room. In the foreground is a picture of the author's father, sitting in a contemplative pose with arms crossed. This image is also sepia-toned in browns of different shades. To the right is the book title.

Should Your Parent Risk an Anesthesia Disaster or Forego Surgery?

Just last week, a reader asked me whether she should try to sway her mother, who had colon cancer, toward surgery. Her...

Coping when Both Parents Have Dementia

“My mom and dad both have dementia. I am all alone taking care of them since. I have no one to help...

This indoor image shows a white paneled wall in the background. In the foreground, we see an older woman on the left. She has tighly curled gray hair, medium toned skin, and is wearing a light blue button shirt. on her right sits a younger woman witih long blonde hair wearing a medium blue short-sleeved top. She has one arm around the shoulder of the older woman and the opposing hand on the woman's other shoulder. Both are smiling.

The Emotional Toll of Moving Your Elderly Parent to Senior Living

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. For most of us, the feeling is less about how large or...

This image shows a laptop on a white surface. An older man with neat white hair and a trim beard looks up at the camera. He's wearing a pink short-sleeved knit shirt.

Solo Agers: Adults Without Close Kin Seek Outside Resources to Manage Future Care

Dear Carol: I’m a 73-year-old widower with no children or close relatives. I’m still healthy, but to be prudent, I need to...

Father’s Day as a Caregiver: Remembering Dad Before Dementia

This Father’s Day, I’ll have fond memories of my dad, as will many caregivers and adult children. The juxtaposition of the past...

An fit-looking older man sits in a comfortable chair. He's wearing a dark collared cardigan over a white golf style shirt, We shee his lighter brown pantsleg on whiche one had rests. He's golding a phone to his ear with the other hand, and by his expression, enjoying the conversation. This gentleman has light skin, are receding hairline with closely cut gray hoir on the sides, and he wears modern wire-rimmed glasses.

Give Your Dad the Best Father’s Day Gift Ever: Your Attention

Our aging loved ones often repeat the same stories over and over again. As our patience wanes, we blame the repetition on memory...

We see two middle-aged adults sitting at a distance on a couch, clearing aging. The woman on the left had her head turned away. She has shoulder length brown hair and is wearing a white shirt. Her arms are folded in defiance. The male on the right also has his head turned away and sits with arms folded. He has brown hair and is wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt.

Siblings Who Feel Shut Out of Caregiving

There’s a great deal of anger in the world of family caregiving over siblings who don’t help care for their aging parents....