Minding Our Elders

Image shows indoor room with a widow and tree in the background. Foreground shows a younger woman with long blonde hair and wearing a beige sweater on a couch offering comfort to an older man sitting next to her. The man has gray hair and is holding his head in his upraised hands in grief or frustration. He's wearing a dark blue sweater over a lighter blue shirt.

Cognitive Decline Not Unusual after Hospitalization of Older Adults

Sometimes an older adult experiences a noticeable cognitive decline post-hospitalization. Families and caregivers are left wanting to know what happened and wondering if their...

Mid-2024 Roundup of Caregiver and Elder-Friendly Products, Services, and Technology

Dear Readers: It’s already mid-2024! That means it’s time for our bi-annual roundup of products, services, and technology. Remember these are not recommendations. I...

Background is dark with a feeling of being inside. Foreground shows an older man with an attitude. He's wearing a white golf shirt and smoking a cigar.

Setting Boundaries with Difficult Older Parents

When the family member we are trying to care for is critical, impossible to please or emotionally abusive, long-standing family dynamics are often to...

A woman covering her face with her hands as if she's crying. We see her long brown hair and both hands with long fingers and red nail polish covering her face.

Coping with Alzheimer’s Caregiver Burnout

You watch your once mentally sharp loved one decline before your eyes. Their uncontrollable behaviors, mood swings, outbursts, confusion, and memory loss are heartbreaking....

Close up of an angry woman with dark brown curly hair, wearing a chunky blue sweater. Shes got both hands on her forehead with her mouth wide open in frustration as if she's been crying

Siblings Who Don’t Help with Caregiving Have Several Excuses

Unfair as it may seem, even in families with many adult children, one sibling usually becomes the primary caregiver for their aging parents. In...

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The Process of Convincing Your Parent to Move to Indepent Living

Aging In Place vs. Assisted Living: Professional in-home care and a medical alert system are sufficient for some seniors to remain at home safely...

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Happy Independence Day!

Wishing everyone a safe and fun Fourth of July! Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. Darlene Fuchs, Author of Get in the...

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Far Too Many People Still Attach a Stigma to Illnesses That Cause Dementia

Anyone who has cared for a disabled child or has a visible disability of their own knows this. However, people who care for an...

The background is the exterior of an older brick building. Foreground is an old woman in a flowered hat and contrasting flowered shirt and beige pants slouching in a wheelchair. Her expression is unhappy

Some People Aren’t Happy Unless They Complain. How to Cope with an Older Adult’s Negativity

Some Seniors Are Prone to Chronic Complaining: If an aging loved one has always been abrasive, complaining may be the only way they know...

Two younger adults facing each other arguing and pointing fingers. Both the man and woman are likely Asian descent. The man wears a dark gray tee shirt and the woman wear a dark gray elbow length top

Adult Siblings Are Often in Denial About a Parent’s Declining Health

Whether it stems from a subconscious need to ignore the fact that a parent is declining, or they want to pretend that caring for...