End-of-life

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Parent’s Death Left Family Unable to Access Vital Online Accounts

Dear Carol: I rarely see this problem addressed. My dad, a widower, was in excellent health for someone in their 70s. He was fully...

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Minimizing 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...

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How to Talk About a Friend’s Death When Someone Has Dementia

A friend recently faced the task of letting her mother, who has mid-level dementia, know that the mother’s elderly brother had died. This death...

Hospice Care: Help During End Stages of Life

…We knew Dad was wearing down. He didn’t have long to live, but did he have to be in such discomfort? I wanted him...

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Music-Thanatology: Providing Harmony at the End of Life

The mission of hospice providers is to help people live their last months or weeks of life in the most comfortable, dignified, and satisfying...

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Losing the Ability to Swallow: How to Help Someone With Dysphagia

Coping with an ill loved one’s difficulty swallowing can be frustrating and frightening for everyone involved. Caring for someone we love means nurturing and...

Why So Many Long-Married Couples Die Close Together

While death rarely brings pleasant feelings, from time to time we’ll see a story about death go viral on the Internet because it touches...

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How to Engage in Self-Care While Grieving

Many caregivers watch their loved ones endure a long, slow decline that will eventually end in death. As they age, we grieve every mental...

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Universal Phrases for That Help Caregivers Find Serenity

Life isn’t easy for most people, and it’s not perfect for anybody. Sometimes, as we trudge through the days providing help for our care...

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Delirium After an Older Adult’s Hospitalization Is a Legitimate Concern

Dear Carol: My 95-year-old mom was recently hospitalized for pneumonia. While there, she developed delirium and didn’t even know the family. The hospital staff...