Compassion

Older man with gray hair and glasses sits on a bench outside. He's wearing a brown coat and holding a folded umbrella with its red handle close to his chest. His expression is stubborn with a set frown.

When Someone 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 at home...

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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 fancy a...

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How to Communicate with Someone Who Can No Longer Speak

Years ago, I stumbled upon a video that remains vivid in my mind. In it, an elderly couple who had spent a lifetime devoted...

The closeup image only shows the torsos of the people. ON the left is a medical person with a purpose sthoscope around their neck. The person is holding their arm bent and hand out to support a women show is weraing a red and white checked, long-sleeved blouose. She has her hand clasped over the supporting person's wrist.

Confusion About Palliative Services Vs. Hospice Care Is Understandable

Dear Carol: After caring for my mom for years, I moved her to memory care due to her dementia. At 93, she is fading....

How Do I Get Dad Out of His Cluttered, Unsafe Home?

People want to stay in their own homes. You hear it and read about it all the time. And there’s some merit to that....

Image is black and white. It shows a close up view of an older woman with curly white hair looking down. She's wiping tears from her eyes with a handkerchief by lowering her glasses. She wears a dark sweater. The impression is one of deep grief.

Minimizing Grief for a Surviving Spouse with Dementia

Deciding whether to tell someone who is cognitively impaired that their spouse has died is a serious and often recurring struggle. Dementia and death...

Concerned Caregiver Worried about Mom’s Repeated Falls

Dear Carol: My 82-year-old mother has been in relatively good health but lately she’s experienced several falls. I only know this because I see...

A family dinner table with a happy black family sharing a meal. There is a husband/father with a beard wearing a blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a wife/mother with curly black hair wearing a gray top, and two children, a girl and a boy. The girl is in the foreground. They are all having a good time.

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...

A man or woman with a short mop of curly auburn hair, mostly covers their face with their hands. The viewer can see tears on the check and one eye that can be seen. They are wearing a black turtlenecked, long-sleeved sweater.

Is It Normal to Grieve long Before Someone Dies?

Nearly everyone involved in caring for an ill or aging loved one is experiencing some degree of grief. However, we don’t usually identify the...

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Loving Yourself: A Caregiver’s Ultimate Challenge

We’ve all heard that we must first learn to love ourselves before we can love others. Yet, many of us have grown up with...