One Good Idea…
This is the first in a series of 3-minute videos created for caregivers. They are designed to be illuminating and encouraging , one good idea amid the complexity and uncertainty of caring for aging parents…
End Of The Line…
We take pains to keep the nursing home at arm’s length, a cultural purgatory that haunts our worst fears about being old. Yet, as Valery Hazanov found out, it is also an instructional landscape about who we are despite our…
Gray Divorce: It’s Not You, It’s Me…
Why Couples Divorce After Decades of Marriage
“If you or someone you know recently divorced after 20 or more years together, you’re not alone. Splitting up later in life, sometimes called “gray divorce,” is on the upswing. In 2010, one…
Boomers: It’s All How You Get There
“The perception is that the baby boomers are very active — they are, you know, climbing up mountains, and they are a very healthy bunch,” says King, a professor in the department of family medicine at the West Virginia University…
Compassionate Body Guard
Our aging parents are not well matched for a healthcare system running on procedural autopilot. They need compassionate body guards who will help them make sense of their medical options based on their quality of life wishes and then help…
The Task of Being Remembered
When understood as a psychological developmental task, it’s not surprising that legacy insists on being addressed, either consciously or unconsciously. Yet because seniors are old doesn’t mean they understand this process. When faced with it, most people do not have…
How do you start the conversation about finances with aging parents?
1. Begin the conversation with a clear acknowledgement that you understand that control is critical to their wellbeing and you fully support their need to have it.
Care giving conversations can quickly turn threatening to older adults who are hypersensitive…
Caregiver Dilemma: Moving Beyond the Wake Up Call
Popular media is abuzz with wake up calls for adult children. Framed as warnings, they detail the impending crisis that comes with caring for aging parents. While provoking anxiety and concern, they are ineffective as a call to action. It’s…
Losing Your Way…
Caregivers are always beginning a new. It comes with the work. Time and again they are knocked off their balance point and scramble to find a way to get back up. The art of caregiver recovery is made easier with…
Crossing the Eighty-Something Frontier
We all hope our aging parents will be robust and independent as they navigate their eighties. Some will, but the majority, nine out of ten, will not. They will become frail or suffer from dementia. They will wind up not…