YOU CAN’T PARENT YOUR PARENTS -Kay Paggi, LPC, NCGC, CMC “My mother doesn’t even like me, she never has.” This statement is not uncommon at a support group for the adult children of elderly. It seems out of place, coming from someone who cares enough about the parent to be attending a caregiver group. Yet it is repeated, over and [...]

On March 7, 2001, I wrote “Cassie passed her writing test—and called me at the office—filled with tears, joy, and gratitude. She did not know she was helping me think of myself as a teacher again.” When I wrote that, I was both my mother’s caregiver and a literacy specialist. I would not remember that [...]

'Senior care", "Physically Impaired", "Deteriorating Mental Condition", "Vascular Dementia", "Baby Boomers", "Sandwich generation" - odd medical terminology mixed with hot topics of our media, are suddenly becoming your reality. The day you recognized distant medical diagnosis as your parents' illness; the day you found yourself in funny sounding category of the [...]

Families Urged to Keep Alert for Signs Seniors Need Help Watching your once active parents or other relative decline into someone who needs constant care is heartbreaking and overwhelming. But with 36 million seniors living in the U.S. and the elderly population projected to double, caring for a senior loved one is a reality most people [...]

It’s an agonizing decision to take away the car keys and apply the brakes to an elderly loved one’s driving, especially in a culture where driving symbolizes freedom.  But an increase in the number of car crashes involving senior citizen drivers this summer has the experts at Senior Helpers urging families to watch for signs [...]

While our seniors require eldercare in the home, or in Long-Term Care, there are many issues that provide a barrier to successful transition from independent to dependent living. If we still keep our elders at home, they are happier, and often healthier, but more at risk psychologically, socially, physically and emotionally. Often, Caregivers are unaware that they [...]

I believe it’s important to encourage family caregivers to recognize and celebrate their successes as a caregiver. I often hear from family caregivers: How can I be successful if every decision I make seems to make my relative absolutely miserable? Our aging relatives have known tremendous losses. They have watched many friends and family members die. They [...]