Caregiving

Tips for Hiring Overnight Care for an Elderly Loved One

Elena was exhausted. Ever since her father came home from the hospital after his heart surgery, she’d been tending to his every need to ensure he recovered fully. After a few weeks of providing him with around-the-clock care, Elena and her father decided it was okay to start leaving him on his own at night.

What Is the Average Age Seniors Stop Driving? Factors in Determining Older Driver Safety

All throughout his adult life, driving was a form of therapy for Dave, making him feel confident, independent, and in control. But when Dave turned 68, the way he’d felt about driving started to change. He felt his reflexes slow, his mobility decline, and his vision deteriorate to the extent that it began affecting his ability to drive. Driving quickly went from being his favorite activity to one that caused him a great deal of anxiety. Before he knew it, his children were sitting him down and talking to him about the need for him to give up his license.

Ultimate Winter Health Tips for Seniors in the Bay Area

It’s a rare and special thing to experience the change of seasons, and those of us who have lived many years and many seasons over have great wisdom to apply to these shifts. Even though our culture and economy want to keep pushing forward regardless of seasonal patterns, our bodies can’t help but feel those natural transitions. Especially in winter, our bodies want to slow down, regenerate, and store up energy for a fresh start come spring.

Hobbies for Seniors with Arthritis: Modifying Old Interests or Trying Something New

For seven years, I was a caregiver for an older woman with rheumatoid arthritis. She was happy to have me around to help her with the daily tasks that had become difficult, such as preparing her meals, decluttering the house, and even going through her mail and writing to her grandkids. But there were certain things she loved to do that just wouldn’t be the same if I did them for her. For example, she could no longer manage the fine brushwork on the models she used to paint, and she could no longer play the piano because her hands became sore quickly.

Senior Advocacy Services in San Francisco: What Do You Need and How Can You Find It?

Sometimes aging adults need someone to step up and advocate for them because of communication barriers and other disabilities. But it’s also true that our aging community needs proactive advocates because our own culture and social constructions tend to undermine the independence and dignity they deserve and underestimate the resources they should have access to.

5 Essential Healthy Living Tips for Seniors

Cliff learned firsthand what it means to reverse expectations about aging and later life. When he moved in with his nephew’s family, they expected him to stay in the house most of the time, read books, watch TV, build puzzles, and be around to let the cat in and out. He was as surprised by their expectations as they were to hear that he planned to keep playing golf every week, meeting with his poker group, and dating women from his senior center community. He told them he’d find a way to get to all of these activities, even though he can no longer drive due to his eyesight.

How to Help an Elderly Person with Depression: Tips for Family Caregivers

Kendra could tell that her father was suffering. He’d dropped several pounds in the last few months, never changed out of his robe, and kept canceling their weekly lunch date at his favorite fish and chips restaurant. His once infectious energy and zest for life had all but disappeared, and she no longer recognized the man who stood before her.

How Much Does Medicaid Pay for Home Healthcare in California?

Grace was worried. She’d struggled to get by financially her entire life, working in various factories and taking overnight shifts as a nanny to make ends meet. In her early 70s, she became unable to work due to her arthritis, and Grace found herself slipping below the poverty line.

What Is a Respite Care Plan? A Strategy for Compassionate Caregiving

A new and unfamiliar caregiver situation has the potential to be uncomfortable on all sides: for the caregiver, for your aging loved one, and for you. But what if there was a really clear picture heading into it about everything the aging adult needs, as well as the things they love to spend their time doing? When a new caregiver steps in to relieve a regular caregiver, a respite care plan allows that initial adjustment phase to be shortened, so the new caregiver and the aging adult are able to start getting to know each other in enjoyable ways immediately.