So often, it seems, the focus on someone with dementia is on what they cannot do. Partly, of course, this is because they need help to make up for the deficits in their abilities– to wash, bathe, prepare food, even spend time alone. But the challenge is to remember to look for and pay attention [read more…]
Caregiving
If Sherlock Holmes Were A Caregiver: Understanding Aggressive Behaviour and Dementia
86 year old Susan was a client of ours whose dementia had been progressing steadily over several years. Her caregivers were a set of dedicated, compassionate, gentle and caring people. They were committed to giving her the best quality of life possible, keeping her clean and comfortable, preventing skin breakdowns and infections, and providing her [read more…]
Caregivers: When Is ” The Right Time” For A Move
People have often asked us during consultations or lectures when “the right time” is for someone to move to seniors housing. There is no easy answer, but generally, our response is that there are two right times to consider– one for the person who is receiving care and one for the person who is caregiving. [read more…]
Touch, Healing, and Seniors’ Quality of Life
“I was touched by your thoughtfulness.” “It was a touching movie.” “Do Not Touch the Exhibit!” The importance of touch is shown by how it permeates our language and by efforts at controlling how and what we touch in our daily lives. This month Elder Voice discusses touch and the elderly. The importance of touch [read more…]
Transitions in Care: How Problems Arise & How You Can Prevent Them
An 87 year old client of ours recently moved from a private sector nursing home to one in the public sector. Three weeks she told us that no one had conducted her weekly blood tests yet. These are critical tests for monitoring the effectiveness of a particular medication on this client. If the levels of [read more…]
Tips for Caregivers on Handling Feelings of Guilt
“I don’t know what to do,” a client told us last week, speaking about her mother who had been admitted to a nursing home three weeks earlier. “She keeps on saying she wants me to take her home, and I don’t know what to say.I feel guilty, like I am a bad daughter.” Guilt is [read more…]
Support: The Key Effective to Caregiving
Support from other people is one of the most important and effective tools available to caregivers to mitigate the stresses of caregiving. Support can make the difference between caregiving being a burden which burns you out and creates strained relationships and one that helps it be a rich and rewarding experience. Support can be both [read more…]
Effective Advocacy for Seniors
While it might not always seem that way, Caregivers actually have the power to advocate within our healthcare system for their loved ones. You need to learn when, where and how to wield it. On one hand, caregivers coming into contact with health care systems, hospitals, or care facilities often find compassionate staff who provide [read more…]
Canadian Caregiver Study: Caregivers At Risk for Burn Out
Caregivers should take note of two studies recently released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.One of those studies, “Supporting Informal Caregivers-The Heart of Home Care”, looked at more than 130,000 seniors (age 65 and older) who received publicly funded care at home in 2007-2008. Almost all of those also relied on close family–a spouse [read more…]
Caregiving: A Gift You Give; A Gift You Get
“My mother told me she loved m. She has never said that to me before in my life. Never.” The quote, above, is from the daughter of one of our clients. All her life her relationship with her mother had been difficult; when she first started caring for her mother at the mother’s home, it [read more…]
