My good friend, guest blogger Sandy Sieber, wrote about the small rewards of caregiving ten years ago when her mother-in-law was 99 years old. Today, Sandy babysits grandchildren, cleans for a family member’s business, evaluates homeschool students, writes homeschool curricula, and looks for small rewards in sharing her home with
Category: Caregiving
People frequently say, “What can I do for you?” or “How can I help you?” People rarely know how to answer that question. If you are an adult caregiver, keep a list of needs that can be met by friends, family, and neighbors who offer help. Here are a few
Caring For Aging Parents There are many challenges in caring for aging parents in your home. When my friend and her husband built their Central Pennsylvania home high on the hill, they designed living spaces to accommodate aging parents. Both had grown up with a grandparent living in the home
A Special Gift Idea Have you ever given a journey of memories? It may be only August, but I’m already thinking of Christmas gifts. How do you buy something for a generation of people like my 84-year-old dad, who never valued possessions? One can only give so many warm blanket
Anyone who has seen the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease will be motivated to keep an eye on risk factors. Having risk factors does not mean you will get Alzheimer’s Disease, but having those factors can increase the chances of dealing with dementia in later life. There are many Alzheimer’s risk
Language can be complicated. Words that seemed appropriate when I was young are now considered politically incorrect. Word meanings change, and, like it or not, we sometimes need to purge our vocabulary to reflect those changes. Denotation is the dictionary definition of a world. If you look up elderly in
As our parents grow older, they may need help with daily living tasks like making meals, running errands and shopping, cleaning and laundry, and getting to appointments. The challenge of taking the right meds every day can be a struggle even for those in mid-life. I used to think housing
The characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease and early symptoms can appear similar to the typical growing older behaviors faced by many adults in their sixties, seventies, and eighties. Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is known for its impact on memory, thinking, and behavior. Recognizing the early symptoms of
In recent years, research has shown a relationship between insulin resistance and the breakdown of neuron functionality in the brain. This brain/insulin connection has created the clinical research term “Type 3 Diabetes,” the newest name for Alzheimer’s Disease. I wondered how we got the name Alzheimer’s for this malady. Who
What is Alzheimer’s Disease? Alzheimer’s Disease is a brain disorder that wreaks havoc with stored memories, hinders new learning, and tampers with cognitive skills. While getting older is a natural event, Alzheimer’s Disease is not. The communication network in the brain is composed of a maddeningly complex system of