How about “Supporting Your Parents” instead? Google ‘parenting your parents’ and you get about 869,000,000 results in 0.68 seconds. The sources range from venerated publications like Forbes and Kaiser Health News to the Huffington Post. Granted, you must sift through articles about how to be a parent and the danger to children forced to take on the parental role. Bottom … [Read more...]
The Holidays Are Over and Everyone Agrees Mom Needs Help at Home.
But No One Can Agree on Whom to Hire. Even when family members agree on an outcome, like finding someone to help mom stay at home, agreeing on how to make it happen can be painful. Truthfully, it often comes down to money and that is a volatile subject for many families. The first thing family members need to understand is that Medicare does not pay for non-medical home … [Read more...]
GRACE is my word for 2020. What do you do to give yourself grace in your life and as a caregiver?
How can one word change your world? Last year I did not set any New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I chose one word, impact, to use as a touchstone for the year. With intention, I measured the positive impact activities, people and commitments had on my life and, based on that, came to some decisions. I’d be lying if I said these decisions were easy, but I acted. I resigned … [Read more...]
Who will support me through a healthcare crisis? Who will pay my bills if I can’t?
Key questions for elder orphans In last week’s article I wrote about the difficulties people who are estranged from family or have no traditional support system will face as they age. Planning for professional help is one way we elder orphans can take and keep control. To that end, I asked two colleagues how they can help. Life Planning and Healthcare: Aging Life Care … [Read more...]
Growing old is not for the faint of heart and it requires careful planning.
Especially if you don’t have a family support system. “Elder Orphan” is a term embraced by some and shunned by others. It’s hard to determine who first coined the words, but it has become a common way to describe a group of people who share some characteristics. According to the October 2016 abstract Elder Orphans Hiding in Plain Sight: A Growing Vulnerable Population … [Read more...]