Caregivers need to find ways to decrease their stress levels in order to remain physically healthy and maintain their emotional welfare. Getting outdoors and taking a walk every day can be a great way to reduce stress.

Remember that as close as you may be to your spouse (or parent), his or her death sentence is not your death sentence. Protect yourself from undue stress by staying strong and remembering that you have a choice in how you choose to react to your loved one's illness.

While there's a fine line between being involved and being overbearing, it's necessary for you, as a family caregiver, to foster open lines of communication -- and this includes questioning decisions concerning your loved one's health.

One of the most basic human needs is to feel loved, and Valentine's Day presents the perfect opportunity for caregivers to meet this need for someone with Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia.

As a nurse-turned-patient, I can say with 150 percent confidence that being a caregiver involves some of the hardest work in the world. In fact, I can't overstate how difficult being a caregiver is. It is painstakingly difficult, physically, emotionally, socially, psychologically and, it must be said, financially.

One particular aspect that is often affected, but seldom openly discussed, is how memory impairment affects the sexual expression of a person with Alzheimer's disease or related form of memory loss.

Ensuring that your loved one with memory loss participates in as many summer activities as possible is a wonderful way to enrich the lives of everyone involved. Try some of these tips to keep your loved one secure and engaged in all of your summer fun.

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

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.

Recognizing that seniors with memory loss can still engage in meaningful activities not only brings them and their loved ones joy, but is also a great way to stay connected. The key is to find something that resonates with each individual and draws on their continued strengths.

For family members who are helping a loved one with memory loss transition to an assisted living community or to any new living arrangement, it is important to recreate the elements that have always made those loved ones feel at home.

The journey of dementia is never easy, and it can be made many times worse if family members do not have the internal tools to take care of themselves and their loved ones.

Becoming a caregiver for your own parents can trigger a series of events that topples everything. One day you feel like Superwoman ... and then, all of a sudden, you find yourself responsible for meeting the physical and emotional needs of your ailing loved one.

Some people criticize the decision made by Rep. Gifford's husband, Mark Kelly, to return to work, but every family must decide for themselves the best way to heal.

A nurse told me often that an illness can be harder on the caregiver than it is on the patient, and that caregivers often experience serious ailments during the first couple years of this stressful period.

No matter how withdrawn or irresponsive the person may appear, one should act and speak as if she were completely cognizant.

These environmental considerations may not slow the progression of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, but they may help seniors with memory loss preserve their sense of self and purpose in life.

One of the most emotionally complex and difficult things a person can experience is taking care of an elderly parent.

No matter how many items you may have checked off your "to do" list in the name of love, if you are not more loving in your heart, then nothing really clicks.

Your relative or friend may no longer remember the beginning of a paragraph by the end of it, may no longer have clear memories of your childhood or accurate memories of their own, but it often just feels good to be with you.