More Severe than Burnout, Compassion Fatigue is a Danger for Long-term Caregivers
Dear Carol: My parents and in-laws all lived to be very old, with years of physical and cognitive decline. I willingly cared...
Minding Our Elders Blog
What to Do When Siblings Can’t Agree on a Parent’s Care Needs
For some lucky families, having all adult siblings gather around and plan how to take care of Mom and Dad as their...
How to Communicate with a Senior Who Can No Longer Speak
Years ago, I stumbled upon a video that remains vivid in my mind. In it, an elderly couple who had spent a...
How Do I Get Dad Out of His Cluttered, Unsafe Home?
People want to stay in their own homes. You hear it and read about it all the time. And there’s some merit...
“I Promised My Parents I’d Never Put Them in a Care Home”
Caregiving is a job that is full of ups and downs. Many of us take on this role out of love and...
What to Do When a Senior 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...
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...
Is Lying to Someone with Dementia Unethical or Compassionate?
Dear Carol: Like many of your readers, my husband has dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, and I’m caring for him at home....
Did Your Mother Really Know Best?
Witnessing our parents’ aging process can be uncomfortable. Some people consider the pain so unbearable that they find reasons to be angry with...
How Caregiving Can Help Us Rethink the Meaning of Motherhood
To me, the definition of a mother is someone who nurtures. Yes, carrying a child in your womb for months and then...
