Ways to Minimize 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 and death...
Dementia
Rummaging: When People with Dementia Dig Through Drawers or Trash
Dear Carol: I’m struggling. My husband was always super neat, but Alzheimer’s gradually took away his ability to organize even the basics of living....
Planning a “Picnic” for a Loved One in a Senior Living Community
While most senior living communities offer an array of programs and events, activities directors often work with limited budgets and are challenged to meet...
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...
Should You Convince Your Aging Parents to Move Closer to You?
As a columnist for a newspaper on the northern plains, I often have readers write me that they are begging their parents to “come...
Adult Day Services Can Fill a Gap for Seniors and Their Caregivers
Most seniors are keen on staying in their homes as they age, but family caregivers often struggle to meet their loved ones’ needs and...
Shadowing with Dementia: When They Panic If You Are Out of Sight
Dear Carol: After my husband retired, he wanted to be involved in whatever I was doing, no matter how mundane. To me, that signified...
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 from the...
The Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease: Ways To Measure May Change, but the Disease Remains the Same
When I wrote this article, seven stages were considered the standard way to evaluate people living with Alzheimer’s. Now, it’s more common to have...
Is It Normal to Grieve Before Someone Dies?
Nearly everyone involved in caring for an ill or aging loved one is experiencing some degree of grief. However, we don’t usually identify the...
