Why Caregivers and their Loved Ones Deserve Respite It is likely that at some point in our lives, most of us will be involved in providing care for an older loved one. A commonly requested type of caregiver assistance among family caregivers is respite, accounting for 15% of all assistance requests according to a study by the Family Caregiver Alliance. A variety of situations may give rise to requests for this type of assistance. For example, if we have a career of our own, the addition of caregiving responsibilities may leave us with very little time to manage our personal needs and day-to-day tasks. Or we may be a caregiver in the “sandwich generation” and care for both children and adult loved ones, which may increase our need for respite, due to the amount of our caregiving responsibilities. Read more
Saving For Down Payments Are you tired of renting? Do your rent payments continue to get higher? Are you interested in purchasing your own home, but feel it’s too difficult to save up the money for a down payment? You are not alone. Many renters feel money is the top reason they haven’t been able to purchase a home yet. Read more
Taking ACTION to Manage Dementia Care Caring for a loved one with dementia can oftentimes go hand-in-hand with challenging situations that may lead us to feel stress and uncertainty about how to manage our loved one’s care. It can become overwhelming, especially for one person, but there are steps we can take to minimize the burden and make progress. Action planning gives us guidance and support to meet our caregiving needs and manage our loved one’s care by breaking down larger goals into small, manageable steps towards solutions to potential challenges. Read more
7 Tips to Help a Loved One Bathe If our loved ones need assistance with bathing, it can be an uncomfortable experience for them to involve us, but it may be necessary for their health and well-being. We should be open with our loved ones about their bathing needs, and, if necessary, enlist the assistance of a doctor in stressing the importance of receiving help in this area. We can ask our loved ones their preferences regarding who they would like to have help them with this task. If the task falls to us, we can follow these tips to help make the experience go smoothly. Read more
3 Ways to Help an Older Loved One With Spring Cleaning With the arrival of spring comes the season of cleaning, decluttering and organizing the household. If we are caring for an older loved one, giving them a hand with their annual spring cleaning may not only make for a meaningful Easter gift, but can also help keep them safe and protected in their home. Read more
