Minding Our Elders Blog

Multigenerational Households: The Ins and Outs of In-law Suites

When I was a teenager, my parents had a new home specifically built with separate quarters so my grandmother could live with us and...

Dementia Can Open the Door to Artistic Expression

The treatment of people with dementia has changed dramatically since I first became personally involved with the disease. It’s now widely recognized that while...

Grandma’s Constant Calls for Help Are Hurting Dad’s Health

Dear Carol: I’m worried about my 70-year-old dad who is constantly responding to his 93-year-old mother’s calls for help. I keep telling him that...

Elder Care Needs Can Change in an Instant

During the years I cared for multiple elders, I grew to dread the ringing of the telephone. It seemed most calls meant emergencies. One...

How to Make Life Easier and Safer for Seniors with Low Vision

Many people would consider losing their eyesight one of the worst losses they could endure. While most of us will not suffer from complete...

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...

Caring For Those in Chronic Pain: How Spouses Cope

Traditional marriage vows generally contain the words “through sickness and in health.” For some couples, chronic sickness in the form of a painful disease...

Oral Care Strategies for Older Adults

As the years go by, most of us find that our teeth require an increasing amount of care. A cracked tooth here, a root...

8 Tips from a Healthy Aging Expert

Note to readers: While this article dates back several years, the information is surprisingly (to me, anyway) current. It illustrates how little sound advice...