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...
Grief
Loving Yourself: A Caregiver’s Ultimate Challenge
We’ve all heard that we must first learn to love ourselves before we can love others. Yet, many of us have grown up with...
Life As a Caregiver: How to Make Tough Care Decisions
Many of us feel honored to provide care for our aging parents or ill spouses, but this honor can also present serious challenges. Even...
Respecting the Right to Age with Dignity
The impact of aging frequently makes the news. Sadly, the coverage is consistently negative, and all facets of this topic are portrayed as “problems” that...
When One Parent Dies the Other Often Needs a Long-Term Care Plan
Long-term marriages generally evolve into a support system so efficient that even adult children hardly notice changes in their parents. If Dad’s hearing is...
Hindsight Can Be a Blessing or a Curse for Caregivers
They say hindsight is 20/20. But things from the past that may seem “clear” to you now can still be distorted by difficult emotions—especially...
New Year’s Resolutions for Caregivers
It’s human to want a fresh start. Even though I know that December 31 of one year is rarely that different from January 1...
Detaching With Love: Setting Boundaries With Difficult Elderly Parents
When the family member we are trying to care for is critical, impossible to please or emotionally abusive, long-standing family dynamics are often to...
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, they often...
Why Caregivers Shouldn’t Feel Guilty About Calling Hospice
A billboard in my city carries a simple message: “Most families say, ‘Why did we wait so long to call hospice?’ “ When I...
