Creating a Bucket List: Tips for Seniors and Family Caregivers
The Bucket List, a 2007 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, helped contemporize the old expression “kick the bucket,” a common...
Dementia
AARP Interview: How to Cope When You Are Caregiving for Someone You (Really!) Don’t Get Along With
It was my pleasure to be interviewed by Bruce Horovitz for this AARP article that discusses a difficult topic in a field...
Helping vs. Enabling: How to Strike a Balance While Caregiving
Most family caregivers want what is best for their loved ones, and they’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Unfortunately,...
Understanding the Difference Between Healthy Reflection and Memory Loss
Dear Carol: I’m worried about my grandma. She’s a healthy, active 74-year-old who reads, volunteers, and plays Scrabble. Mom says Grandma is the...
Hospital Delirium: Cognitive Decline After Hospitalization
In the expected course of treatment, people are hospitalized because they are ill. Then, barring a terminal condition, they are released because...
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...
Confabulation in Dementia Can Feel Like Hurtful Lies
When a person develops any form of dementia, it is difficult for family and friends to witness their diminishing capacity and the...
How to Convince Your Parent 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...
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,...
How Hiring a Handyman Can Help Your Aging Parents
Years ago I saw a van whose driver was letting teenagers off in front of the local high school, where I was...
