A girlfriend recently remarked, “I was trying to tell my sons a story about my parents, and found I just couldn’t remember the exact details. I wasn’t sure if I was telling the story right.” I knew exactly what she meant because I’ve also had that feeling of “Am I relaying this family story accurately?” […]
Baby boomers are people born from 1946 to 1964, which includes me and probably many of you in our Tender Loving Eldercare community. According to a 2020 study by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), baby boomers make up more than a third (38.5%) of all caregivers in the United States. The study […]
An opinion piece in USAToday shared the story from an adult daughter and primary care physician, Dr. Bobbie Storment, whose mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 adenocarcinoma, metastatic cancer. Overnight she became a caregiver for her mother, who was also a retired family physician. Although they were both doctors, becoming a caregiver and care recipient […]
I was delighted and honored on June 28th, 2023, when Amy Dickinson, nationally-syndicated advice columnist, recommended my book, The Conscious Caregiver, to her readers in her “Ask Amy” column! A family caregiver wrote in because she was at the end of her rope with her mother and “her stress level is through the roof.” We’ve […]
A reader recently sent me this question: “My elderly mother-in-law has gotten mean in the last few years. She’ll say mean things to people — mostly family members, but also others sometimes. I don’t think she even realizes how hurtful she’s being. Does this happen to elderly people often?” In my experience, not […]
Summer begins next week in the U.S., and many areas are already experiencing heat waves. According to the American Red Cross, excessive heat has caused more deaths than all other weather events in recent years. Older Adults are More Vulnerable Older adults are more vulnerable to dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Please check on […]
Placement Guilt When Moving a Loved One to a Care Facility A support group member asked, “How do I get over the guilt?” A few months prior she had moved her husband to a board and care facility because she could no longer care for him by herself at home. Intellectually she knew it […]
This is the third article in a four-part series about how to find an assisted living community for 82-year-old Sally. Please click here for Part 1 with some background info. And click here for Part 2 about our visit to Assisted Living Community “A.” Her story continues below . . . . Sally and I […]
This is the second part in a four-part series on how to find an assisted living community for an elderly parent. Please click here for Part 1 with background about finding an Assisted Living residence for Sally. Meeting Sally On a Saturday morning I met Sally at her friend’s home, where she was living temporarily, […]
One caregiving question I’m asked often is, “How do I find the best assisted living facility for my aging parents?” Recently I received a request to help Sally, an 82-year-young woman, with no family living nearby, find an assisted living facility to move into. Her family living cross-country asked me to be their “eyes and […]
