Many find in the final months with a parent that the roles suddenly reverse. Taking care of an aging parent can be jarring. Instinctively we feel it’s not how it is supposed to be. Parents take care of us! Through it all, it’s important to remember that we are dealing with the person who raised…
Healthy Dementia Care Strategies Dementia is a difficult condition to live with, but it also affects caregivers. Caring for patients with dementia leaves many caregivers overwhelmed and exhausted. Hard to understand and often invisible to the eye, dementia makes it hard to determine whether care is effective. But, if you practice healthy dementia care, you…
One of the sad facts of aging is that people lose the ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. This is largely due to deteriorating vision along with other health-related issues. Telling an aging loved one that he or she can no longer drive can be painful for all concerned (see our previous post Don’t Take…
If you live an hour or more away from a parent or relative who relies on you for some form of care, you are considered a long-distance caregiver. Managing long-distance caregiving is no easy task. It is stressful and time-consuming and difficult to accomplish without additional help. Being far from your loved one when they…
If you are responsible for caring for an elderly loved one, you probably could use some help to lighten the load. But without experience in the medical industry, it’s hard to know what level of caregiver you need. In-home healthcare needs can be easily met with a little bit of research and the help of…
The number of geriatric medical health caregivers is not keeping pace with the increasing number of older Americans. In addition, there is a lack of adequate training in the field of geriatric medicine as well as an insufficient amount of hands-on clinical experience. While physicians may have experience dealing with senior patients in their practice,…
It is difficult to accept that a senior adult in your life is no longer able to perform the same tasks they once could on their own. You may have started noticing small signs that have raised concerns. At first, you may have even turned a blind eye. However, when those signs become more frequent…
Aging and losing the ability to perform the day-to-day tasks that once defined us can be a tough pill to swallow. Relinquishing those responsibilities to someone else can be even harder. At David York Agency, we understand that dignity, above all else, is the key to good eldercare. In her novel Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand wrote,…
Caregivers who consistently go above and beyond the call of duty possess the traits that most people might expect. They demonstrate patience, compassion, and responsibility on a daily basis. However, they also possess five lesser-known caregiver qualities that are instrumental to their success in eldercare. These qualities include stamina, vibrancy, tolerance, strength, and composure. Stamina:…
High Risk of Institutionalization About 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s Disease and 90% of those are abusive. This is important because this situation puts these patients at higher risk for institutionalization, greater functional decline, and domestic abuse. Up to this point, prescribing medication has been the preferred method for managing and controlling the Behavioral and…