Elder Care ABC Created by caregivers for caregivers

Preventing Pressure SoresElder health care vigilance from family members is the best way to prevent pressure sores.  Recently, two older friends of mine had aortic valve replacements. Mary just started her fourth week in a nursing home.  Lynn was home two weeks after her surgery.  What is the difference between these two women?  Mary developed [...]

A healthy brain and good memory are the keys to independent living as we age. As the daughter of an Alzheimer’s disease victim, every memory lapse I experience makes me worry.  I wonder is this the first sign that I will get AD too.
While we know more about how our brains work than ever before, [...]

As a friend and not a caregiver to my 80 year old friend Mary, I was confident her surgery would go well. A week before her surgery, Mary followed her normal schedule of bridge games and working in the garden.
A week after surgery, Mary didn’t know what hospital she was in. She told visitors that [...]

When it was time to help my parents with their elder care needs, I didn’t hesitate, I jumped in.  After my mother’s death, a friend asked my husband and me if we would pay bills for her if she became ill.
Being single with no children, our friend had a network of long term friends who [...]

Dad had briefed me on my most important caregiver duty.  “What ever you do, don’t let mom lose the keys to the mail box.”  Returning home after a long day at the hospital while my father was having surgery, mom and I were exhausted.  Before I realized what was happening, we were arguing at the [...]

Paying for senior care stretches everyone’s budget.  Mary’s mom was running out of money.  Her Alzheimer’s disease meant that a caregiver stayed with her all day while her son was at work.  This was using up her money at a rate of $4000 per month, not to mention normal living expenses.  Mary heard about a [...]

Your careful planning can make for a smooth transition from your parents paying their care costs to using Medicaid.  Medicaid begins paying long term care costs when your parent has “spent down” his own money to the Medicaid asset caps.
It can be hard to face that money is running out.  Caregiving is so time consuming [...]

If laughter is the best medicine, pets must be the second best elderly health care prescription.
Why are pets a key component of elder care wellness?