Blog

  • How to Help Your Senior Avoid Loneliness While Aging in Place

    Today many seniors prefer to stay in their own homes as long as possible, but family and friends often have concerns for their safety and well-being. Some of these issues can be resolved quickly and easily, such as adding a new railing along the front walk or modifying the shower. Others, like avoiding loneliness, will require ongoing effort.

  • How to Make Home Safe After a Hospital Visit

    Many families don’t realize how much a loved one’s health has deteriorated until a fall sends her to the hospital. Falls are one of the most common, and most serious, health issues among seniors. And the resulting injuries can dramatically alter a senior’s quality of life.

  • In-Home Care vs Assisted Living: Making the Best Choice for Your Senior

    More and more seniors prefer to age in place, and flexible in-home care options are readily available. Yet some families may still find providing in-home care overwhelming, and many seniors enjoy living with their peers in an assisted living community. With so many factors to consider, how do you determine whether in-home care or assisted living is best for your parent? Ultimately, the choice is a personal one. 

  • Want Your Life Back? There’s No Need to Feel Guilty

    Whether you stepped in to help an elderly relative out of love, a sense of responsibility, or financial necessity, caregiving can sometimes feel like a burden – even for the most devoted family members. What frequently starts as a small role, perhaps doing some grocery shopping or cleaning, often becomes much more demanding over time.

     

  • Four Things to Know Before Hiring a Caregiver for a Senior with Alzheimer's

    Whatever your needs, there’s an in-home caregiver that’s right for your family. But finding that person depends on clearly understanding your aging parent’s condition or disease, and defining the specific care he requires. For instance, in addition to specific daily care skills, Alzheimer’s caregivers should possess an extra dose of patience and compassion.  

    Before you begin interviewing Alzheimer’s caregivers, here’s what you should know:

  • Caregiver Cash and Expense Management

    We are often so busy worrying about the cost of a caregiver’s salary that we often neglect to consider the other costs related to having someone in your home caring for a parent or elderly relative. The expenses are minor compared with the commitment you made to paying a qualified caregiver, but they need to be considered and accounted for when calculating the total financial commitment to in-home.

  • 3 Practical Success Strategies for Family Caregivers

    Though providing care for an aging parent may start as a sprint, it often becomes a marathon. Perhaps an injury or illness sends you scrambling for emergency care, but you soon realize that your senior won’t recover fully. Instead, she’ll need ongoing and likely, increasing, care. Or maybe you get a bit more warning; you notice your parent’s declining health and put a care plan in place over several months.

  • Why Educating Your Caregiver is a Win-Win

    It’s common for your loved one’s needs to change over time. If you’re lucky, you have a trusted caregiver who really connects with your senior, understands his or her needs, and is responsive to your input and concerns.

  • 5 Simple Ways to Help Your Senior Trust a New Caregiver

    Some seniors, particularly those in the early stages of dementia, may have a hard time trusting anyone other than the family member they rely on most.  Yet being solely responsible for an elder’s care can quickly become a heavy burden for that family caregiver -- no matter how loving and committed he or she may be. Reliance on a single caregiver isn’t in the senior’s best interests either, since it can lead to isolation and in some cases, may even increase the risk of elder abuse.

  • How to Obtain Guardianship—and When You Should

    Realizing that your parent has become incapable of caring for herself or making reasonable decisions about her property is a heart-wrenching discovery. And if you postponed getting legal documents in place -- a power of attorney and living will -- your only option may be guardianship.

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