What you need to know about financial, health and legal requirements. Nursing Homes and Assisted Living facilities are not the same, but many people don’t understand the difference. Nursing homes are a “skilled nursing” facility (SNF), designed for residents that need constant nursing supervision. Assisted living communities on the other hand, do just that, assist … [Read more...]
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support for Family Caregivers
What is available? Did you know that in the United States today 3.7 million people with dementia live at home and are cared for by family members? (source: Johns Hopkins Medicine) (Jump to Lessons Learned) Caring for a person with dementia often involves a myriad of responsibilities, including daily ongoing personal care, medication management, filling the day with … [Read more...]
Grief Is A Personal Journey
There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Update note: Grief is a topic I have written about before and this post is from the 2nd anniversary of dad’s death. But this week we lost one of my father’s siblings and it was like losing him all over again. One more tie to the person I loved is gone and I’m grieving the loss of our beloved family member, that tie to dad and of … [Read more...]
Caregiving is an Emotional Journey
Not all the emotions are pretty. When I started on this caregiving journey, panic was the overwhelming emotion. Panic was soon joined by feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by all the decisions that had to be made and all the choices in front of us. Which one was best? Was it the right one physically, emotionally, financially for mom? At that point what I needed didn’t even … [Read more...]
Caregivers: Stress = Cortisol = Fat
I have always struggled with my weight. A recent class has helped me to fully understand the relationship between stress, cortisol and fat. In a nut shell, stress contributes to 80% of diseases including diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis. And over the long term makes us fat. This Stress Level Barometer defines 5 levels of stress, and for me illustrated how often I … [Read more...]