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
How Do I know If?: Recognizing When a Loved One Needs More Support If we are asking the question How do I know if… about a loved one’s care, it usually means the time to take action is now. But what if we do not even know the relevant questions to ask, let alone the best answer? We are bombarded with information from well-meaning family and friends, but don’t know how to tailor it to our own situations. Read more
What to Know About Dementia Screening and Assessment Tools If you’re a family member, friend or caregiver who suspects a loved one might have dementia, it’s important to know about cognitive screening and assessment tools. Since there is no one biological marker or blood test to pinpoint dementia, cognitive tests help doctors evaluate the state of your loved one’s memory, recall, language recognition and ability to follow instructions. If you plan to bring your loved one to a doctor, a combination of tests may be used to screen your loved one for dementia. And, if you are hesitant to consult a doctor just yet, many of these tests include questions that you can try asking your loved one yourself to help you confirm your suspicions. Read more
Elder Justice Innovations: Helping Individuals Transition from APS to other Community-Based Supports Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging is committed to highlighting the important Elder Justice work being implemented across the country. Presented in partnership with the Elder Justice Coalition, attendees heard from the Administration for Community Living about the 2021 Elder Justice Innovation Grants. A select group of grantees discussed their work focused on the various community services that help individuals transition from short-term adult protective service programs to community services in their area to prevent the recurrence of abuse. Read more
Annual Caregiving Conference: Engaging Caregivers in Evidence-Based Programs The conference explores successes and challenges in the dissemination of evidence-based programs to family and friend caregivers. Keynote speaker, Erin Long, MSW, Team Lead, Alzheimer's Disease Programs Initiative of the Administration for Community Living, discusses experiences with engaging caregivers in programs and services, along with marketing strategies. Presentations also highlight experiences of organizations engaging caregivers and delivering evidence-based programs, including strategies to overcome barriers that keep caregivers from enrolling in support programs, and lessons learned through their marketing efforts. Read more
Helping Older Adults Live Well with Age-Related Vision Loss Changes in vision are common in older adults. According to statistics from the American Foundation for the Blind, over 6.1 million Americans aged 65 and older experience some form of vision loss. Loss of vision can be overwhelming for a loved one, especially since it can affect many different parts of life from the ability to drive safely to being able to take part in hobbies like reading or doing jigsaw puzzles. However, thanks to improved treatments and assistive devices, there are options we can explore to make it much easier for loved ones to preserve as much of their vision as possible and continue to live safely and independently at home. Read more
Stigma and Working Caregivers: Why Are We Afraid to Talk About Caregiving at Work? Caring for an older loved one or friend touches many of us. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, one in six employed Americans report assisting with the care of an older loved one. Moreover, an estimated 10 million millennials are now a part of the caregiver population. So why are we still afraid to talk about caregiving while at work? The answer is stigma. Read more
Caregiving for Older Loved Ones through Natural Disasters For caregivers, preparing for and responding to the aftermath of a natural disaster comes with the additional challenge of protecting the safety and needs of a vulnerable loved one. This challenge can be compounded further by a loved one’s disability or illness. Whether we live in the South and need to prepare for hurricane season and flooding, live in the West and face earthquakes and wildfires, or live in the North and risk snow- and ice-related power outages, it is crucial for us to be proactive when taking care of a loved one during a disaster. A helpful way to stay prepared is by developing an emergency preparedness plan. Read more
Caring for Loved Ones with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Dementia Caring for a loved one with intellectual and development disabilities (IDD) already presents a unique set of challenges from those faced by most caregivers. When a loved one with IDD presents with changes in behavior, memory and sometimes mobility, those challenges are then joined with the challenges of being a dementia caregiver—and can often feel confusing, overwhelming and at times even too much to handle. Read more
