As the calendar moves into January, it’s common to think about New Year’s resolutions. If you’re a family caregiver who’s looking after an aging in place senior, making a list of caregiving resolutions can help you more efficiently balance your responsibilities with a household, spouse, children and job.
This is the third time Dad has fallen while at home during the past year, and now you’re worried that it’s going to happen again. You want your dad to be able to continue living on his own for as long as possible, but something needs to change. One of the best ways to ensure that his home is a safer place is by eliminating trip and fall hazards.
Ever since your mom died several years ago, your elderly father just hasn’t been the same. Depression seems to be his new constant companion, and when the holidays come around every year dad’s demeanor gets even worse. He still lives alone nearby, so you’ve been trying to come up with some creative ways to lift him out of his funk and get him in the holiday spirit.
The holidays can be a hectic time of year, but when you’re trying to make all those last-minute preparations while also looking after an aging in place elderly loved one, you can find yourself feeling completely overwhelmed. Being a member of the “sandwich generation” during the holidays can ratchet up your stress level to the point that it places your health and wellbeing at risk.
Even though advertisers portray the holidays as “Hallmark moments”, they can oftentimes seem like quite the opposite for many seniors. According to a recent AARP Loneliness and Social Connections survey, over one-third of elderly Americans feel lonely and depressed during the holiday season. If your aging loved one struggles with senior loneliness during the holidays, here are some simple ways to remind them just how much they’re loved.
Serving as a family caregiver for an aging in place elderly loved one is highly rewarding, but it can also be very hectic and exhausting at times. As a result, it’s not uncommon for a family caregiver to start developing negative feelings towards the senior they’re caring for. If those emotions are not promptly addressed, they can not only adversely affect a caregiver’s health and wellbeing, but also that of their loved one. Fortunately, working through negative feelings as a caregiver is possible by taking these steps.
Sadly, it’s not uncommon for an elderly person to eventually reach the point where they can’t think clearly, rationalize, or make important decisions on their own. Once a senior becomes incapacitated, if they don’t have a durable power-of-attorney (POA) their adult children must find other ways to ensure their loved one’s continued health and wellbeing.
In many families, when an elderly parent is going through a serious illness the resulting stress and anxiety cause old childhood rivalries to flare up again. Siblings take on various roles ranging from bossy and dominant, to conflict avoidance and peacemaking. When it comes to an aging parent’s care, having a designated family spokesperson will help make the entire process go more smoothly.
Your elderly father passed away several months ago and your aging mother now lives alone in the house you grew up in. But lately mom always seems lonely and depressed, and she’s isolated herself from family members and friends. In fact, mom’s feelings of loneliness have reached the point that you’re now worried about her health and wellbeing. What should you do? There are several proven ways to help an elderly parent overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation, starting with these.
For the past 6 months, you’ve been taking care of your aging in place elderly mother. Your siblings live nearby but so far, they’ve been “MIA” when it comes to mom’s care. At first everything was going well, but now you’re starting to feel the stress of being a primary caregiver who’s also juggling a part-time job and household. Fortunately, there are several reliable ways to involve your siblings in a loved one’s care, starting with these.
