Taking on Caregiving Responsibilities: Balancing Expectations vs Reality As your loved one ages, you may find that the demands of caregiving are growing, and it can be too much to handle. Whether you’re helping with small tasks or assisting a loved one with bathing, no caregiving task truly feels all that small, but others can certainly feel too overwhelming. Your expectations may be that you can do it all – caregiving on top of managing your own household, job and other responsibilities. Or, it could be that others’ expectations for care are growing and you feel pressured to live up to it. Whichever the case may be, accepting the situation and learning to work with it may be the first step to making life easier down the road. Read more
Secondary Caregiving: Providing Care to a Loved One in Assisted Living When we transition a loved one to an assisted living facility, it may feel as if our role as a caregiver has ended. However, most caregivers who move a loved one into assisted living instead experience a change in their caregiving role rather than an end to this role entirely. With this change can come new responsibilities and sources of stress. Read more
Becoming a Caregiver: My Role Has Changed, Now Who Am I? We all have roles in life that we are used to and comfortable with. Some roles that come to mind easily are mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, partner, friend, aunt, uncle and grandparent. These are very common roles that are socially accepted, defined and supported. We know how to be a parent, sibling, friend etc., because people teach us by serving as an example. What happens when these roles start to change, however? These scenarios happen every day, and the shift that it can create in a relationship paradigm can have a ripple effect of feelings, emotions and struggles. Read more
Caring for Your Older Loved One’s Pet When the loved one we are providing care for has a pet, chances are we will provide care for their pet as well. While this can add to the time we spend and amount of tasks we manage as caregivers, it can also provide us opportunities for self-care and a way to begin difficult discussions with a loved one. Read more
5 Tips for Managing a Loved One’s Finances It's not always easy talking to our loved ones about their personal finances, and it can be even more difficult to help them realize that it may be time to turn the reins over to us or another caregiver. Avoiding the conversation, though, can lead to unnecessary stress and unwarranted headaches later on, and can leave our loved ones open to financial exploitation. So how do we start the conversation? And what should we say? Read more
Managing Finances for a Loved One with Dementia Handling a loved one’s finances can be a difficult task, particularly when they have been diagnosed with dementia. In fact, the inability to handle finances is often one of the first signs that a loved one has the disease. They might pay bills more than once, forget to pay bills entirely, give money away unexpectedly or have trouble balancing their checkbook. Dementia can also leave a loved one open to financial risk and abuse, which can make it even more important for us to familiarize ourselves with how best to protect them from these threats. Read more
Reducing the Financial Fatigue of Caregiving There are many rewards of caring for a loved one, but caregiving can also come at a cost. According to several studies, the average female caregiver loses more than $324,000 during their lifetime in wages, pensions and Social Security benefits, due to their caregiving responsibilities. Read more