|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » Reflections » Empathy for Caregivers » Empathy for Seniors ( RSS)
-
|
During this time, we as a family also had many talks about quality of life over quantity of life. I never had a doubt about what my parents wanted done, or not done, as their own lives slowly drifted to an end.
|
-
|
In "Making Connections," Jimenez focuses on a program developed by Cameron J. Camp, an experimental psychologist. Camp has applied the childhood education principles of Montessori schools to people most consider unable to learn new things. Dr. Camp developed training seminars and materials that are now used by many nursing facilities around the country. His inspiration came when he was working with the elderly at the same time hi
|
-
|
the experience of attending to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of a dying loved one, and then witnessing the essence of the person leave the body through death, can be a beautiful, life-altering moment
|
-
|
Dementia, too, affects the brain, and people with dementia are often treated as though they have something that shouldn't be talked about. When I started writing my newspaper column and mentioned my mother's arthritis, it didn't bother any of her friends. When I talked about her dementia, many were shocked and disappointed I'd "do that to her." She didn't ask for either disease and she wasn't to blame for either. What's the difference?
|
-
|
The list went on and on. Daily baths, attention paid to her mother’s nails, lotions, pulling chin hairs…on and on and on. She got a standing ovation, but my heart ached for her. She was in her early 50s and looked in her late 70s. She was smiling but looked as if life had beat her with a crowbar."
|
-
|
Humans are social creatures and we all need a certain amount of social interaction. What I find frustrating, when I try to explain my need for solitude to people, is that most people seem to equate solitude with loneliness. They are not the same thing.
|
-
|
It was December in North Dakota, and the cemetery was knee deep in snow. These men were not much younger than the man they helped bury. Earlier, I had marveled at their dedication to a fellow soldier as I watched them march on aging, unsteady feet,...
|
-
|
“She took my sweater! I saw her. She stole it! That woman took my sweater my mother made for me!”
|
-
|
We got him a private room at a lovely nursing home nearby, where we could visit daily. We moved as many personal items into his room as possible, with lots of pictures and momentos. However, their antiques, beautiful silver, huge book collection (weeded out heavily before their last move) and personal items had to be dealt with. Who should take what? Who had room? We tried to sell some things, and had a little luck, but it was hard to let these things go. There was so much history. There were so many memories. Nearly every item had some emotional attachment. In the end, we gave a lot to charity, and kept some small items. The whole process was painful.
|
-
|
The authors of a neat little organizer titled, "Putting Things in Order: A Journal to Organize Your Life for the Next Generation," sent me their top ten list of things to do so you can be organized with the paperwork you want your heirs to have. Before I tell you about their book, here's the list as written by authors Ellen Baumritter and David Finkle:
|
-
|
Then they giggle and – kiss. Yikes! Aren’t they kind of old for that? Our society has marginalized people over fifty when it comes to love and sex.
|
-
|
States and counties already have rating systems for a wide variety of inspections which are done on a regular basis, at least in my area. The results of these inspections are available to the public, so, out of curiosity, I've looked up, on the Web, the ratings of homes I know well. Often, I've been shocked to find that they have "deficiencies."
|
-
|
Often the adult children need to travel south to handle emergencies. This causes problems with jobs and young kids at home. So they beg their parents to come back home. The parents balk. This is my home, now. I don’t want to leave my friends. I don’t want to leave my church. I don’t want to live in the cold and risk a fall on the ice.
|
-
|
My sister was told that her colleague's mother, who was viewing the program, had said to the adult child, "Lawrence Welk looks wonderful. He just doesn't age!" To her, Lawrence Welk is alive and well and not aging, since she's seeing him on television.
|
-
|
She'd walk and walk and walk and then see a chair and sit and say, "I'm sooo tired." Then she'd get up and start walking again. The staff, friends - any of us - would sit by her or walk by her and say, "Of course you're tired, Hazel
|
More Posts Next page »
|
|
|