We feel an enormous weight of guilt and sometimes even a sense of failure for our inability to care for aging parents. Guilt, helplessness, and the pain of realizing that you may no longer be suited, or able, to give your elderly parent what he or she needs is an enormous burden for any child…
Forgiving Your Parent for How They Treated You in the Past By Marlo Sollitto, AgingCare.com Every caregiver has a family history. Some of that history may be unpleasant, disappointing or even abusive. A caregiver’s experience of abuse, neglect and addiction leaves lasting scars. Moving beyond the past is never easy. But what happens when someone in your…
Leeza Gibbon’s On Caring For Aging Parents: Dealing With a Loved One’s Dementia TODAY Books Leeza Gibbons on the depression she faced while caring for her mother. In her book Take Your Oxygen First, Leeza Gibbons shares the story of her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. With the help of medical professionals, Gibbons…
Parenting an Aging Parent and Helping Her Through New Experiences By P. Jefferson While we’re growing up, we eagerly view getting older as the pathway to life’s important “firsts” or milestones—starting school, getting a driver’s license, graduating from high school, then college, getting married, just to name a few. We recognize and often celebrate each…
By Marlo Sollitto, Editor AgingCare.com The demands on a person who is taking care of elderly parents result in a great deal of stress. But if caregivers aren’t careful, they jeopardize their own health and well-being. A study of family caregivers found that those who experience caregiving-related stress have a 63% higher mortality rate than…
Caregiver Stress Can Make Carers Feel Trapped: What to Do? By Carol Bradley Bursack, Editor-in-Chief ElderCareLink.com Human beings, especially loving human beings, seem to have a penchant for “beating themselves up” over imperfections. This isn’t the place to go into all the various psychological issues that make us feel we need to do everything perfectly,…
“Taking Care of Mommy” – a short documentary about the challenges of caring for an elderly parent Part 1 Part 2
This information has been culled from the following sources: CNN Money A Place for Mom ElderCare Link AgingCare.com This is for informational purposes only. You should be sure to check with an accountant or the IRS when you are preparing your tax return. Tax laws are complicated and ever changing. The AARP also offers free…
Amy Grant on being a caregiver to an elderly parent… Amy is featured in this week’s PEOPLE Magazine discussing the greatest challenge – and greatest lesson — of her life as she navigates the ‘new reality’ of a parent with dementia and embraces the unexpected gifts it brings. The article is written by Eileen Finan…
By Marilyn C. Ellis So often I hear frustrated clients tell me, “Help, my elderly parents are so stubborn and they are driving me crazy!” I completely understand this frustration as I have been there too. My elderly mother became more and more forgetful as she got older. She would forget to eat and drink. …