Death and dying

The image shows an older woman in bed. S he's got gray hair and is wearing a blue nightgown. She smiles at a younger woman who is sitting on the edge of the bed reading to her from a book. The younger woman wears a scooped necked yellow shirt jeans.

Confused About Palliative Care Vs. Hospice Care? You Aren’t Alone

Dear Carol: My mom has advanced lung disease as well as late-stage Alzheimer’s. We know that there are no cures for either of her...

Background is a rising sun over hills. Foreground shows a back view of a siloouetted woman seated in a cross-legged yoga pose, arms in front. She's gazing toward the horizon.

10 Tips to Help You “Unplug” from Caregiving

Jen has been caring for her parents for almost two years and she is quickly approaching caregiver burnout. A close friend booked and prepaid...

Father and adult daughter site together on a couch, each with a computer open. It appears that the daughter is helping the father figure out a computer problem. The daughter hs long brown hair and is wearing a white print shirt. The Father is wearing jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt. The background is a room interior with shelving.

How Caregiving Can Change Your Personality

There’s no getting around it: being a family caregiver is bound to impact how you think and who you are as a person. Taking...

The background is a home with a large window. A caregiver knees on the floor. She is wearing a blue short sleeved shirt and white pants. She holds her hands out enocouragingly to an older soman who is using a walker and moving toward her. The older woman has gray hair and is wearing a long beige sweater.

Family Caregivers Still Undervalued By Many

We live in a society that tends to value what we do over who we are. If what we do isn’t highly paid or...

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Paying for Assisted Living: When Siblings Split Costs, What Is Fair?

There are many options for the care of our aging parents, but most of them are costly. There was a stretch of time during...

Older woman in a wheelchair wears a gray sweater. She has short, salt and pepper hair and has a appears happy. A younder woman, presumably her caregiver, is bending down to listen to the older woman. The caregiver has long brown hair, white skin, and has her hand on the wheelchair push handles.

How Involved Should Families Be When Elders Live in a Senior Living Facility?

Over the course of 15 years, five of my elderly loved ones lived, for various spans of time, in a nearby nursing home. I...

Middle aged man with dark skin and shaved head, has hands placed on top of bent head. Grief is written on his downturned face.

Breaking the News That a Loved One is Going on Hospice Care

When the paperwork was finally signed to get hospice care for my dad, I was grateful. There would now be a routine of care...

Gray haired woman wearing black jacket seen from the back with head bowed. Background is of dark, low hanging rain clouds

When One Parent Dies the Other Often Needs a Long-Term Care Plan

Long-term marriages generally evolve into a support system so efficient that even adult children hardly notice changes in their parents. If Dad’s hearing is...

Image shows blurred dark alter or table. ON tip are rows of votive candle holders, some with lit candles and some empty. We see a total of five flames, three in back and two in the foregroud.

Mixed Emotions: Grief and Relief When the Loved One You Cared for Dies

When my mother died in a local nursing home, my “career” of visiting this exceptional facility nearly every day for almost 15 years ended....

Brown haired woman lying back on bed with hands covering face in emotion and tears.

Hindsight Can Be a Blessing or a Curse for Caregivers

They say hindsight is 20/20. But things from the past that may seem “clear” to you now can still be distorted by difficult emotions...