Compassion

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...

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...

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 You Join Someone with Dementia in Their Reality?

It was not unlike any other day, but on this particular afternoon, Dad was adamant. He was waiting for his medical degree...

The image shows the cover of the AARP Caregiver Answer Book with the title in bold over a blue sky. There is a stylized hill with a highway rolling over it. We see the dotted lines of the highway and stylized trees in various green, yellow and fall-like orange tones on the backside of the road. on the green grass toward the bottom of the graphic we see the author's names: Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD and below that Julia L. Mayber, PsyD

The Perfect Holiday Gift for A Caregiver: ‘The AARP Caregiver Answer Book’

Holidays nearly always increase the emotional load of caregiving and often, the physical tasks as well. With Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and the...

Tis wintery outdoor image shows an older man cross-country skiing with blue sky and snowy peaks in the background. The man is wearing ski pants and a red ski top and wears a backpack.

Some Mildly Risky Behavior Might Be Necessary for Your Elder’s Mental Health

Dear Carol: My dad, 72, has been adventurous all his life, and that spirit doesn’t seem to be dampened by aging or even...

Humor Can Provide Armor Against Deep Sorrows of Caregiving

One of the positive parts of being a family caregiver is the opportunity for emotional growth. We can develop increased compassion, patience,...

An older man sits at a table hugging a brown plate to his chest. He's leaning toward the table and sucking on a sucker stick as he looks over his glasses at someone. He has short gray hair in a classic cut ad wears a brown plaid shirt.

Getting Medications Down Someone with Dementia Who Can’t/Won’t Take Pills

Dementia care demands incredible creativity. The ever changing needs of the person who has dementia challenges family caregivers and professionals alike. One...

This image is the cover of "Bringing Art to Life" by Daniel Potts. Close up on the left, we see a bright yellow sphere, with orage on top. Further down is more yellow with splotches of color on the left. The sphere could be a hat or a paint pallet. The cover art is slightly abstractt.

Dementia Can Open the Door to Artistic Expression

The treatment of people with dementia has changed dramatically since I first became personally involved with the disease. It’s now widely recognized...

This indoor image shows two men. On the left is the father, who is balk and wearing a cream shirt open over a black tee shirt. On the right is his son who has sort brown hair and is wearing a beige scarf loosely around his neck over a dark coat. Both wear a semi-serious expression.

Dementia Caregiver’s Experience Made Premium Incontinence Protection Easier to Find

As is the case with most people living with advanced dementia Harris Sterling’s father developed incontinence. Along with other difficult issues that...