Dementia care

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.

Are People with Advanced Alzheimer’s Aware of Their Surroundings?

Even among medical experts, you will find differing opinions on how much someone with advanced dementia of any type understands. Alzheimer’s disease...

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Classic Time Management Strategies for Caregivers

Don’t let the title scare you, folks. I’m not presenting a “system” here. Personally, I’ve never seen a chart or graph designed...

A woman in a bright gold sweater sits on a couch with her back turned to a man, hand help out to keep him at bay. The man looks at her as if arguing. Both are upset.

Caregiver Asks How to Politely Refuse Unhelpful Visitors

Dear Carol: I’m an only child providing care for my dad, who has PTSD from military service, exacerbated by dementia. Before this,...

The background is an indoor wall in muted cream. Foreground is a frustrated woman with an Afro that is parted on the side. She has brown skin and is wearing a light tourquoise ribbed turtleneck sweater with long sleeves. Her elbows are bent and hands are held up in the air in frustration or anger.

How to Cope 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...

Top 3 Excuses from Siblings who Don’t Help With Caregiving

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

We see an older man wearing a white tee and drk pants sitting in a whieel chair. A pleasant looking young woman has her hands on the chair handles as if steaing him. She learns forard slightly as if speaking to him. Her clothing looks like white scrubs. Behind them are white sheers drawn over large windows.

How to Convince Your Parent Who Needs Help to Move to Assisted Living

Conventional wisdom says that we all want to stay in our own homes for as long as we can. That is likely...

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.

Coping with the Stigma of Dementia

People stare. Most are not unkind; they are just curious. But when someone “different” from the norm becomes part of their environment,...

this indoor image has a blurred background. IN the foreground we see a man with clipped brown hair and a receeding hairline who wears a cream golf-style shirt with some muted stripes. He has brown skin. He wears an unhappy frown and he looks slightly toward the side.

How to Cope If an Older Adult Is Always Complaining and Being Negative

You took your mom to the doctor, and she’s upset with you because the appointment took too long. You helped Dad with...

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.

How to Handle Siblings in Denial About a Parent’s Declining Health

Nearly all family caregivers with siblings have experienced some version of sibling denial regarding their aging parents. Whether it stems from a...

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.

8 Ways to Mitigate Caregiver Stress

Many of us belong to the sandwich generation; we are caring for aging parents while raising our own children. Back in my...