aging parents Archives - Page 2 of 21 - Aging, caregiving and the journey through the second half of life

Home Rules: We’re Not Going Anywhere

May 21, 2020

Older adults see where they live as the Alamo and will make their last stand defending it. We advance with logic, manipulations, and threats, and they use any means at their disposal to repel us. Here’s why. 1. The place…

We will never allow isolation to carry the day…

May 3, 2020

In his article, Coronavirus requires physical distance in end-of-life care. But we won’t let isolation prevail, Rev. Thomas Ryberg, a chaplain resident at Albany Med in Albany, New York,…

Secrets: A Powerful Form Of Control

April 30, 2020

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One Good Day

April 19, 2020

In the end, caregivers accept the limits of what they can control while making the best of what remains—a shift in focus to one good day at a time. Honoring the here and now offers a nurturing space for aging…

Informed Control: The Art of Alignment

March 3, 2020

“I can’t believe I have to take a driving evaluation.” Nancy could hear how upset her father was at the idea of being retested to keep his driver’s license, “I have been a licensed driver for over 50 years, and…

Reset Expectations

February 24, 2020

The challenges of caring for an aging parent are exhaustive and quickly exceed the capacity of one person. Caregivers need to adopt realistic and sustainable expectations about their capacity to avoid sacrificing their health for unattainable goals. Acknowledging limits on…

And then an aging parent moves in…

February 17, 2020

When an aging parent moves in, no one can predict how it will work out. What looks good in the beginning can come undone in sudden and distressing ways. Adult children need to frame moving in as “one step” in…

Prior Authorization May Not Mean What You Think It Means

February 11, 2020

Perfect. Add it to the list of unending financial shocks that haunt our healthcare system. The predictable medical problems of aging are enough of a burden without the profound weight of the escalating cost of healthcare. These punitive and painful…

The Real Work Of Families…

February 10, 2020

(As a writer, I always feel I’m best person to title my own articles, blogs and booklets. Of course, that’s just my willfulness not paying attention to better voices who have different take on what I have written. And so…

Family Rules are not a level playing field for Caregivers

February 10, 2020

Families are complex systems where minor changes can produce major consequences at any time and with out warning. Accepting this reality as an immutable law of the world of aging parents helps prevents exhaustive efforts to prevent them from happening. …