Caregiver

Changes to Mental Health Diagnosis Could Impact Caregivers

Leann Reynolds | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: Family Caregiving, Caregiver, Caregiving, Mental Health, Caregiver Tips, Dsm 5, Depression, Healthy Living Health News, Anxiety, Healthy Living News

How mental health professionals diagnose their patients could be changing, therefore affecting patients, families, and caregivers, after 2013.

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How I Got My Beloved, Demented Romanian Soul Mate to Move to a Nursing Home

Marie Marley | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Geriatrics, Alzheimer's, Nursing Home Placement, Caregiver, Dementia, Come Back Early Today, Caregiving, Fifty News

So there I was with this 92-year old man who desperately needed to be in an Alzheimer's care facility. He adamantly refused to go. He said he'd die first. He always said he'd die first. Always.

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Elder Independence: Establishing Common Ground

Ilaina Edison | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Family Caregiving, Caregiving, Home Health Aide, Caregiver, Physical Therapy, Music Therapy, Caregiving Tips, Family Caregiver, Caregivers, Common Ground, Healthy Living News

Whether you're caring for an aging parent or a neighbor in your apartment building, or helping a home health aide connect with your ill spouse, look to establish common ground to drive forward a successful caregiving relationship.

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When Alzheimer's Patients Make Perfect Sense: Those Stunning Moments of Total Lucidity

Marie Marley | Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Geriatrics, Caregiving, Caregiver, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Memory Loss, Moments of Lucidity, Come Back Early Today, Fifty News

As a person's illness progresses, these episodes tend to occur less often, and so when they do occur, it's all the more striking and precious.

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Aging Parents? Check Out These Affordable Alternatives To Assisted Living

Mary Turner | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Video, Assisted Living, Alzheimer's Care Homes, Homecare, Eldercare Assisted Living and Nursing Homes, Nursing Homes, Caregiver, Home Health Aide, Fifty News, Caregiving, Fifty News

Although "aging in place" may be the preferred option for seniors, declining health and physical limitations often preclude this option. But an assist...

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Spousal Refusal: I Take Thee In Sickness And In Health, Except...

Ann Margaret Carrozza | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Ann Carrozza, Long-Term Care, Spousal Refusal, Medicaid, Medicare, Long-Term Care Costs, Homecare, Home Health Aide, Caregiver, Eldercare, Caregiving, Fifty News

The reality of spousal refusal is very different from the politically motivated sound bites decrying multi-millionaires on Medicaid. If, for example, my husband has a stroke and we apply for Medicaid for him, I may decide to declare spousal refusal in order to protect my nest egg of $300,000.

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How to Break the News When It's Alzheimer's

Marie Marley | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Informing Children, Caregiving, Caregiver, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Come Back Early Today, Informing Others, Grandparent With Alzheimer's, Fifty News

Informing people that you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's can be painful and exceedingly difficult.

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Making Alzheimer's Moms Happy With Just a One-Minute Call a Day

Marguerite Manteau-Rao | Posted 05.06.2012

Read More: Dementia, Caregiving, Family Caregiving, Long Distance Caregiving, Memory, Alzheimer's, Caregiver, Alzheimer's Care, Dementia Care, Family Caregiver, Affective Memory, Caregivers, Healthy Living News

I would like to share one small thing I have discovered with my mother, that's made a huge difference in how I feel about living so far from her.

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Saying Yes to No

Jody Gastfriend | Posted 05.03.2012

Read More: Jody Gastfriend, Multitasking, Caregiver, Caregiving, Family Caregiver, care.com, Learning to Say No, Volunteering, Saying No, Work-Life Balance, Overextended, Fifty News

As many of my generation of caretaking, overextended, multi-tasking women can attest to, saying yes is easy; saying no can be tough.

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Why More Boomers Are Living Alone

Anthonia Akitunde | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Social Security, Senior Housing, Homecare, Living Alone, Home Health Aide, Caregiver, Elder Care, Aging Alone, Medicare, Eldercare, Eric Klinenberg, Caregiving, Fifty News

When mom or dad has a harder time getting around their homes, one begins to make plans: “Should she move in with us? Maybe we should look into nursi...

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How Leeza Gibbons Is Improving Life For Alzheimer's Caregivers

Marie Marley | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Memory Care, Leeza Gibbons, Leeza's Place, Caregiving, Caregiver, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Post50 Health, Fifty News

One evening Leeza Gibbons, the celebrated radio and TV personality, was out to dinner with her mother. When they went to her home, which her mother had visited hundreds of times, she said, "This is such a beautiful place. Is there a room for me here?" Her mother had dementia.

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Final Curtain: A Mother's Day Love Story

Ted Sutton | Posted 04.30.2012

Read More: Slidepollajax, Caring for Aging Parents, Aging Parents, Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Age-Related Memory Loss, Caregiver, Memory Loss, Mothers-Day-Pkg, Fifty News

My mother may not know my name, but she knows my voice, and it triggers something within. She giggles girlishly. Then, I start a song, one from the old days, and she joins in. We have our own routine, our Alzheimer's Rag.

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3 Zen Ways to Nurture the Very Sick

Marguerite Manteau-Rao | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Hospice, Dementia, Caregiving, End of Life, Zen Hospice Project, Food, Elder Care, Eating, Caregiver, Alzheimer's, Compassion, Zen, Mindfulness, Mindful Care, Dying, Healthy Living News

Food is one of the last few pleasures left when illness leaves one laying in bed in a small room with little else available in terms of sensory gratification. Food is also an important part of caregiving.

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Ask for Help, and Take It!

Kathryn Haslanger | Posted 05.13.2012

Read More: Caregiver, Caregiving, Caregiver Tips, Family Caregiver, Caregivers, Respite, Healthy Living News

When we talk about the burden facing caregivers, most people agree that getting help is necessary for maintaining their health and their sanity. But for some reason, when it comes time to actually take that help, many caregivers resist.

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7 Tips For Caregivers To Answer The Toughest Questions

Posted 03.03.2012

Read More: Walter St. John, Books, Solace Book, Caregiver, Caregiver-Advice, Health Care, Slidepollajax, Caregivers, Fifty News

As members of the Sandwich Generation, many Post 50s are taking on a new role; one that requires great mental, emotional and physical strength -- that...

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Who Suffers More: Alzheimer's Patients or Their Caregivers?

Marie Marley | Posted 04.28.2012

Read More: Stress, Emotional Distress, Caregiving, Dementia, Agitation, Suffering, Alzheimer's, Caregiver, Forgetting, Worry, Marie Marley, Alzheimer's Caregivers, Dementia Caregivers, Caregivers, Healthy Living News

To help reduce your distress the next time your loved one is distressed, try to remain aware that people with dementia live only in the present. That way you can end your suffering as quickly as your loved one does, and then you can both move on to something more pleasant.

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Lessons For Caregivers: Survivor's Guilt And The Memory Room

Bernard Mooney | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Bernard Mooney, Tough Care, Caregiving, Caregiver, End of Life Care, Family Caregiving, Care Giver, Dementia Caregiving, Care Givers, Elderly Caregiving, In Home Caregiving, Health Post50, Care Giving, Caregivers, Tough Care Bernard Mooney, Fifty News

When my wife died, I felt survivor's guilt because the two of us shared every good thing and every bad thing that had occurred for a very long time. Now I felt guilty that she no longer had the opportunity to experience the things that are still to come.

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Alzheimer's and Psychoactive Medications -- A Controversial Decision for Caregivers

Marie Marley | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Behavioral Problems, Caregiving, Dementia, Antidepressants, Psychotropic Drugs, Alzheimer's, Psychoactive Drugs, Emotional Problems, Caregiver, Delusions, Antipsychotics, Medication for Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Disease Medication, Alzheimer's Medication, Alzheimer's Medications, Healthy Living News

Many people refuse to even consider having their loved on put on any psychotropic medication for any reason. And that's understandable. But today's medications, which can be given in doses that don't overly sedate patients, can also be effective and improve a patient's overall quality of life.

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Lessons For Caregivers Part 2: Dealing With Medical Professionals

Bernard Mooney | Posted 04.06.2012

Read More: Family Caregiving, Care Giver, Tough Care, Caregiving, Dementia Caregiving, Care Givers, Elderly Caregiving, In Home Caregiving, Health Post50, Care Giving, Bernard Mooney, Caregiver, Caregivers, Fifty News

In short, when you are a caregiver dealing with doctors, be prepared to ask questions. When dealing with nurses, be prepared to listen.

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How Tough Are You? Summoning Strength In Caregiving

Bernard Mooney | Posted 01.30.2012

Read More: Caregiving, Care Giver, Tough Care, Care Givers, Elderly Caregiving, Family Caregiving, In Home Caregiving, Health Post50, Care Giving, Bernard Mooney, Caregiver, Dementia Caregiving, Caregivers, Fifty News

The weak, helpless, confused and eventually paralyzed state Celia had been in for four years hurt her 10 times more than it might hurt someone else. She did not abide by someone helping her to do everything, every day (not even her husband of 39 years).

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When the See Saw Tips: Parenting Our Parents

Lee Woodruff | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Aging Parents, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Eldercare , Homecare, Caregiver, Home Health Aide, Caregiving, Fifty News

We are all very much still on this journey. We are the parents now in so many ways, the executors and the advocates, the decision makers, accountants and the schedulers. We no longer act like children with our parents. The see saw has tipped.

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The Coming Age of the Family Caregiver

Rev. Amy Ziettlow | Posted 03.24.2012

Read More: Aging, Aarp, Gen X, Personal Care, Millenials, Baby Boomers, Caregiving, Caregiving Elderly, Family Caregiving, Caregiver, Home Caregiving, Caregivers, Health News News

The next 30 years will be defined by the quality of care we provide for our elders. How will the baby boomers age and die? How are we as their kids going to care for them well and honor their memory and legacy? What kind of lives will we review?

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Caregiving: The Dance Between Guilt And Resentment

Wendy Lustbader | Posted 03.21.2012

Read More: Family Caregiving, Guilt, Resentment, Renewal, Self Care, Caregivers Home Care, Caregivers Support, Family Caregivers, Care for Caregivers, Caregiver, Support for Caregivers, Caregiving, Caregivers, Healthy Living News

When an older family member needs help, many people struggle to find the time to provide assistance to their relative amidst the many other commitments crowding their lives. Often, it is hard to figure out just how much help is really necessary.

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40 Steps to Making a Bed... And Other Lessons in Caregiving

Marki Flannery | Posted 03.13.2012

Read More: Caregiving, Caregivers, Long-Term Care, Home Health Aide, Lessons, Caregivers Support, Family Caregivers, Care for Caregivers, Caregiver, Home Caregivers, Healthy Living News

A task so simple, mundane -- and essential -- as making a bed for someone who cannot do it themselves strikes me as a great lens through which to view caring for others.

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Long-Term Caring Means Insurance

Ann Brenoff | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Long-Term Care Insurance, Eldercare , Insurance, Homecare, Over 50 Life Insurance, Life Insurance for Seniors, Caregiver, Home Health Aide, Caregiving, Fifty News

By 2030, one in five Americans will be a senior citizen and estimates are that those needing long-term care insurance will skyrocket to more than 23 million Americans. And each one of them is looking at a projected long-term care costs of about $300,000 a year.

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