The nursing home featured an incredible outdoor space complete with a resident-tended vegetable garden, raised flower beds with wheelchair access, large trees, and an overhead trellis full of hanging planters and climbing vines that provided ample shade. Read more →

Dear Worried: One of the vital things that we do as caregivers is helping our older adult family members take necessary medications as prescribed, and question prescriptions that could be unnecessary. Questioning doesn’t mean that we should be antagonistic toward a doctor but asking details about prescriptions is just common sense. T Read more →

Dear TY: Since there are numerous reasons why older adults may experience changes in how they walk (what doctors call our gait), you're right to be concerned. Shuffling can be one of these changes, but so can a drop foot gait, an off-kilter gait or simply a significantly slower than normal gait. Read more →

Burnout is a pervasive problem for family caregivers, especially those who have no time to get away from the ongoing emotional and physical demands of caring for an ailing family member. Your situation is a classic example: One adult child who is still living in the parents’ community while other siblings live... Read more →

Dear PT: Your note touched me deeply. While your feelings are normal, you have the insight to know that they are off track. It takes a big person to recognize their shortcomings and deal with them without blaming others, so you have my admiration. Read more →

Hospice is about allowing people who are looking at a terminal diagnosis a chance to live their final weeks or months with dignity and quality of life, Read more →

The focus of palliative care is to provide relief from the symptoms of the disease and even the treatment side effects, as well as help with emotional and spiritual issues. Read more →

If you and your parents have frequent, casual conversations about options as they age, you’ll have an easier time with the transition than if you leave the topic until there’s a crisis. When you begin the talks, generalize. Read more →

I’m a strong believer in families being realistic. Your parents should have a Power of Attorney for health care with a health directive or living will. This is the document where people assign someone else to make decisions for them should they become unable to do so. Read more →

As we talked, Nancy described the inner turmoil she was facing as her parents got older. She grew up with a physically and emotionally abusive mother, and her father was gone much of the time, doing what most men of that generation did: making a living to support his family. Therefore, he wasn’t around to “interfere” with the raising of the children. Read more →