Seniors often have a difficult time adjusting to the reality of aging. As a caregiver, you are responsible for filling in the gaps and protecting your loved one’s interests. You are certainly energized and ready for the task. Yet, you find yourself grappling with increasing challenges in a daily battle for normalcy. The roles have…
Being a caregiver is one of the most stressful jobs a person can have. The mental and physical energy involved is enormous and often underestimated and unrecognized by other not directly in this situation. To devote yourself to caring for others is truly admirable, but it is also important to take time to care for…
Aging is a natural part of life. Still, our cultural obsession with youth and beauty increases our collective anxieties about it. Today, retailers make millions of dollars from beauty products that promise to delay the inevitable. To be sure, New York seniors want to look good. However, many more in New York, Brooklyn & Nassau…
Isolation at any age can be detrimental to emotional health, but studies suggest that the effects of loneliness can be much more far-reaching. Dr. John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago Neurosciences program ran a 30-year study on the effects of isolation in seniors and his discoveries were startling. Loneliness affects mental health as well…
Imagine an illness that causes your loved one to lose control of their movements and balance, devastates their cognitive functions, and eventually, causes them to vividly hallucinate. Their memory becomes foggy, and everyday activities, such as eating, dressing, and even using the toilet, become an hourly challenge. Nighttime brings no relief. Your mother, father, or…
So often, when crisis hits, a family can be caught unawares by this emergency situation. As a result, adult children are blindsided by not knowing where to find critical documents necessary for deciding on the care for their elderly parents. Therefore, they feel handcuffed by not having access to assets or important essential documents that…
As the leaves turn and winter approaches, many of us anticipate the holiday season with joy. We reminisce about the year and look forward to family gatherings. We also browse the Internet for gift ideas, thumb through our favorite recipes, and put on holiday music. Yet, for many, the holiday season inspires loneliness, sadness, and…
Many of us saw our parents as superheroes during our childhoods. They were there when we needed them. They kissed away our cuts and scrapes, destroyed scary shadows, and fought the boogie man. We never imagined anything could defeat them. Then we grew up, and our parents got older. Now, it’s time for us to…
Suffering a stroke is a cataclysmic event that happens in seconds with almost no warning. You have mere moments to intervene and seek medical care. After that there can be a lengthy and challenging recovery process. Suddenly normal, everyday activities become impossible for the stroke survivor to do alone. Furthermore, living arrangements, too, can create…
You probably know somebody who has taken on the role of caregiver, or you might be one yourself. This means you know firsthand how much time goes into the labor of love that is caregiving; time that can eventually drain a person’s physical and mental well-being if it isn’t balanced by activities that keep the…