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This morning, the Obama Administration announced it will make more money available for Alzheimer’s research and caregiving support. The official announcement reads:
The Obama Administration today announced new efforts to fight Alzheimer’s disease, including immediately making an additional $50 million available for cutting-edge Alzheimer’s research. In addition, the administration announced that its...
Sometimes, the struggle in your life can feel like hole in the toe of your sock when you’re wearing boots on a snowy day.
It’s irritating, uncomfortable and aggravating.
In the moment, it also seems unsolvable, like it will last forever. Like you will always be walking in your boots in the snow as your toe sticks out of your sock.
Of course, the hole in the sock can be a quick fix. You can sew the sock...
To get the New Year off to a healthy start, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is launching the Healthy New Year Video Challenge, the first in a series of video challenges through which members of the public will get a chance to share personal stories about how they use health information technology (health IT) to have a positive impact on their own health or the health...
Oh, this caregiving is so hard!
It’s making your life hard, your day hard, your heart hard.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if caregiving seemed like the softest mattress possible, always giving such a comfortable landing. Or, that it tasted like the most wonderful soft-serve ice cream, so creamy and delicious you always want more. Or, felt like the softness of a baby’s skin, so beautiful that you...
Posted by
Denise on Jan 12th, 2012 in
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Susan starts her day at 5 a.m. so she has a few moments alone to write in her journal. Then, it starts: Getting ready for work, waking her mom, waiting for the home health aide, updating the aide on the previous night, checking with her husband about which errands they’ll each run at lunch, then finally leaving at 7 a.m.
She leaves the house, but she takes the worries. How much longer will they be able to afford...
Americans’ sense of financial obligation to family members is strong and born out of love and generosity, but does have limits, according to a new study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute.
Multi-Generational Views on Family Financial Obligations: A MetLife Survey of Baby Boomers and Members of Generations X and Y reports that Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1964), Gen Xers (b. 1965-1976) and Gen Yers (b. 1977-1990)...
How many times during the day do you catch yourself looking down?
Perhaps you look down because the weight of caregiving seems too heavy. Or, maybe you look down because it feels like your life is down there—going down the drain, flushing down the toilet. Or, you might be looking down because that seems to be the best way to prevent a fall.
When you can, look up. When you look up, you find fresh air. When you...
Yesterday, during Table Talk on Your Caregiving Journey, Kristin spoke about her inability to do what she enjoys. She has books to read, words to write, websites to visit… And, yet she can’t. The stress of worrying about Mary and whether Mary is safe becomes her day’s only action. It’s all she can do—think about making sure Mary is okay. The dread of what could happen (Mary wanders...
(We welcome a guest post today from Michelle Seitzer of 101Mobility.com.)
Before caregiving, when you shopped for a house, you probably had certain must-have items on your buying check-list, items like granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, shiny wood floors and custom tiling.
After caregiving enters a house, you realize how hard a house, with its multiple levels, tight hallways and awkward bathrooms, can...
This morning, Claire Day, Vice President of Constituent Services for the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter, joined me for our monthly discussion about dementia care. We spoke about how to keep your caree’s spirituality alive—in your house worship and at home. You can listen to our show via the player below.
Claire and I shared thoughts about the importance of involving your caree in...
Yesterday, at the Gerontological Society of America annual conference in Boston, The National Alliance for Caregiving released its most recent study of family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease, Caregiving Costs: Declining Health in the Alzheimer’s Caregiver as Dementia Increases in the Care Recipient.
According to the study, a family caregiver’s health decreases over time as their caree’s...
Chances are, during one of your caree’s hospitalizations, you noticed that your caree experienced a significant level of confusion. The sudden change in your caree’s mental status during a hospitalization can be startling, upsetting and scary.
Unfortunately, the sudden confusion, known as delirium, among the hospitalized elderly is an awful side effect of an inpatient stay. Your caree is hospitalized...
On Saturday, I presented a workshop at a Family Caregivers Conference in Gwinnett County, just outside of Atlanta. My presentation, “Secret Stress Buster—Embracing Limits,” helped attendees understand the importance of recognizing their limits in caregiving. We think we have an infinite amount of patience or tolerance or strength or compassion.
We are perfectly imperfect, which means we have...
NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVERS MONTH, 2011
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, A PROCLAMATION
Across our country, millions of family members, neighbors, and friends provide care and support for their loved ones during times of need. With profound compassion and selflessness, these caregivers sustain American men, women, and children at their most vulnerable moments, and through their devoted acts, they...
Often, when I shop at Target, I struggle to find a cart that’s not tarnished with someone’s trash and whose wheels don’t bump loudly along in the store.
And, so it feels sometimes in the struggle to stay positive.
Our cart in life can fill up so quickly with trash—the self-doubt, the worry, the anxiety. Will this work out? Will bad luck become good luck? Will life ever feel normal? Will I...
Costs continue to rise for those requiring long-term care in the U.S. According to the newly released 2011 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs, conducted by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, national average rates for a private nursing home room increased 4.4% to $239 daily or $87,235 annually in 2011. Assisted living base rates rose by 5.6% to $3,477...
The New York Times Old Age blog featured an interesting story yesterday (Caregiving’s Hidden Benefits).
Caregiving has some interesting benefits. Consider:
1. Family caregivers have a lower mortality rate than non-caregivers.
2. Family caregivers are physically stronger than non-caregivers.
3. Family caregivers scored better on memory tests than non-caregivers.
4. Caregiving can lengthen your life. (You can...
Our Chicago Marathon took place on Sunday.
On Tuesday night, I had a dream I ran, and finished, a marathon. I ran it in four hours, 50 minutes. I also ran it without having run more than three miles on any previous run.
Today, I wonder: Was that really just a dream? Or, is that what we really do in life? Is it possible to accomplish so much without much training?
Think of what you do every day. Think of what you...
At times, I will think: I’m not ready for that. To talk about that. To do that. To know that.
At times, I think I will never be ready.
And then I do it anyway.
Because when I think, I’m not ready, I’m really thinking: I am sooo afraid of what I’ll read. Or what I’ll know. Or what I’ll encounter. Or how I’ll feel. Or what others will say about me. Or how I’ll look. Or...
The advisory council of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act will convene for the first time tomorrow (September 27) at 9:30 a.m. ET at the Administration on Aging headquarters in Washington, D.C.
National Alzheimer’s Project Act, signed into law in January, will create a coordinated national plan to overcome the Alzheimer’s crisis and will ensure the coordination and evaluation of all national efforts...
Tammy, one of our Facebook fans, would love your advice. She writes:
I simply cannot get my mom to take a bath, or shower, or even a sponge bath. Got any ideas? I think she feels unsteady on the bath bench. Maybe she doesn’t like water dripping down her body or on her face while I try wash her hair, even with waterless shampoo.
What suggestions can you offer Tammy? What works for you? Please share in our...
An interesting article appeared today on the website of the Daily Press newspaper. Here’s the gist of the article (“Pat Robertson Says It’s Okay to Divorce Someone with Alzheimer’s Disease“):
(Pat Robertson) was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman after his wife started suffering from the incurable neurological disorder. The question was posed...
