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Home for the Holidays: Be Prepared

Adult children carry with them memoires of holidays past. The sights and smells of the familiar home with Mom and Dad there to present a warm family gathering. So, when we go back to visit, even if we consciously know our parents are aging, we subconsciously expect things to stay the same. This expectation...

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-26-2008
Engage With Grace Provides Valuable Tool for End-Of-Life Discussions

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.

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-23-2008
Can the Techniques Taught in Montessori Schools Help Elders with Alzheimer’s?

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...

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-21-2008
A Book To Spark Conversation and Thought about the Dying Process

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

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-03-2008
Social Stigma Still Evident for Alzheimer’s, Dementia and Mental Illness

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...

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-28-2008
Obsessive Caregiving Can Be Harmful To Caregiver and Care Receiver

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."

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-24-2008
Loneliness In Elders Cause for Concern

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.

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-20-2008
Memorials and Mementos Hold Deep Meaning for Caregivers

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,...

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-18-2008
Did someone steal Grandma’s sweater or is dementia stealing Grandma’s mind?

“She took my sweater! I saw her. She stole it! That woman took my sweater my mother made for me!”

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-16-2008
Cleaning Out the Homestead

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...

Posted to Minding Our Elders (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-10-2008

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