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,...
Dementia
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...
Coping With Seniors Who Won’t Accept In-Home Caregivers
Hiring in-home care for my elderly neighbor, Joe, was quite an ordeal. The company we chose and their professional caregivers were great,...
What to Do When an Older Adult Refuses to Bathe and Change Their Clothes
When it comes to caring for the elderly, hygiene issues are surprisingly common. Determining why their bathing habits have changed is the...
