Caregiving.com

Stories, Support, Solutions
  1. Denise

    Obama Administration Presents Plan to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease

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    | Denise's Blog, In The News
    May 16, 2012
    Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday released an ambitious national plan to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The plan was called for in the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), which President Obama signed into law in January 2011. The National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease sets forth five goals, including...
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  2. Denise

    Flat

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    May 8, 2012
    Sometimes, you feel like you fall flat on your face. When you do, you wish you could just lay flat; it just seems easier for life to climb over you so you can hide from it. You’ve flat-lined. How do you get up? You become round, full of life and...
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  3. Denise

    Bright

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    May 1, 2012
    At first, it feels like a few flickers, like what happens to lights during a terrible storm. It’s a lessening of who you were. Then, it feels like the lights just go out and you’re no longer who you used to be. Caregiving can dim your bright light before you...
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  4. Denise

    How Many Opinions Are Too Many?

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    | Help!, Your Tips
    April 5, 2012
    (Editor’s Note: Today, we welcome a guest post from Crystal Fornes, a nurse practitioner and patient advocate with more than 10 years of experience.) In my work as a nurse and healthcare navigator, family caregivers tell me they want solid opinions and more concrete explanations from their caree’s doctors. They...
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  5. Denise

    Jan’s in USA Today

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    | Denise's Blog, In The News
    March 26, 2012
    Congrats to Jan, who blogs here on caring for her mom, for making today’s USA Today. Jan shared her perspective on caring for her mom in the article, “Caring for Elderly Parents Catches Many Unprepared.” “When you get into the trenches, it’s literally baptism by fire,” she explains in the...
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  6. Denise

    Open

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    March 22, 2012
    The tasks of caregiving can be deceiving. They lead you to believe that completing the tasks will give you closure. Sometimes. At times, the tasks can bring closure. Your caree needs a new doctor so you research, investigate and find the best one. You mark the file “closed.” You need...
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  7. Denise

    Bake

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    March 14, 2012
    In your caregiving role, you’ll hear lots of half-baked ideas. Ideas like: Since  you’re so stressed, why don’t you just find a nursing home for him? Since it’s such a worry for you, why don’t you just divorce him? Since it’s such a struggle for you, why don’t you get...
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  8. Denise

    Business

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    March 8, 2012
    The business of caregiving often gets in the way of the purpose of caregiving. The business is the paperwork, the appointments, the budget. The business is also the drama—the fights, the battles, the clenched fists and crossed arms. All that business gets in the way of the true purpose of...
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  10. Denise

    More Funding to Come for Alzheimer’s Research, Caregiver Support

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    | Denise's Blog, In The News
    February 7, 2012
    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...
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  11. Denise

    Hole

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    January 24, 2012
    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...
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  13. Denise

    Soft

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    January 17, 2012
    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...
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  16. Denise

    Look Up

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    | Denise's Blog, Weekly Comforts
    January 10, 2012
    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...
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  19. Denise

    Your Tips: Your House of Worship and Your Caree

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    | Holiday Survival Guide, Your Caregiving Journey, Your Tips
    November 29, 2011
    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...
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  20. Denise

    Your Caree Declines, Your Health Care Costs Increase

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    | Denise's Blog, In The News
    November 22, 2011
    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...
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  21. Denise

    Preventing Delirium in Your Hospitalized Caree

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    | Denise's Blog, Your Tips, Your Tools
    November 13, 2011
    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...
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  22. Denise

    One Word to Start Your Journal

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    | Denise's Blog, Journaling 101
    November 7, 2011
    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....
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