These resources have been invaluable to me. People often ask “How did you get to the point where you and your mom are a team? It’s so hard to not act like I’m the parent.” One of the first books I read when I became mom’s caregiver was How to Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders by David Solie, M.S., P.A. This book helped me understand why mom … [Read more...]
How Does Your Elder Find Purpose In Their Life?
"There is quality of life in the touch of a towel and the smell of detergent.” Eloy van Hal, Founder of The Hogeweyk. Caregivers, too often we act as if our senior can no longer contribute to life at home. But modified tasks and a little help may be all it takes for them to feel worthwhile. And that leads to a quality life. I had the privilege of hearing Eloy van Hal of … [Read more...]
Assistive technology in caregiving, will it help your senior? Maybe.
But it takes work. For more than a year, I’ve been talking to my mother about getting an Amazon Echo. She has difficulty seeing numbers on the telephone, which makes dialing an adventure. Most of the time she uses pre-programmed two-digit dialing. But family and friends use cell phones now and we have reached the limit on pre-programming the phone. My hope is that assistive … [Read more...]
The Art of Slow Caregiving – My Biggest Lesson After 5 Years as a Caregiver
"Ordinary People With Extraordinary Caregiving Experiences." I recently had the privilege of being interviewed for the "Eldercare Illuminated" podcast by Lenore Tracey. Lenore is Eldercare Practice Leader at Torchlight. During our time together, we touched on the many ways that slowing down as mom's caregiver has helped our relationship, changed the way we interact, and … [Read more...]
Deaf and Aging in America
“Blindness cuts us off from things. Deafness cuts us off from other people.” Helen Keller Our very sense of self-worth, our identity, is dependent on relationships, and healthy relationships are dependent on being free to share our thoughts and feelings, as well as to listen to those of others. Barriers to communication, therefore, create barriers to relationship. For people … [Read more...]