Losing someone you love can be quite painful. Your natural reaction to death is not similar to that of other seniors. Seniors can experience difficult emotions of sadness and pain that do not seem to let up. Some people grief by showing their true feelings while others prefer to act strong and brave to ignore the pain. Anger, shock, disbelief, fear and guilt are some symptoms of grief. The death [...]

Being a caregiver could be one of the most challenging experiences in life. It comes with a set of difficulties that may seem too much to handle for many caregivers. A swirl of feelings including being on edge characterize the life of a caregiver. Stress, sadness, confusion, frustration, impatience, guilt, anxiety, fear, anger and isolation are just but a few negative emotions you may experience. Other than the above emotions, [...]

Grandfamilies is a term used to describe families that comprise of grandparents raising grandchildren. Parents of the children being raised by grandparents, close family friends, great-grandparents or other relatives may not be in a position to take care of their children. Some of the reasons that may make a parent unable or unwilling to take care of the child include instability, death, illness and substance abuse. The responsibility of raising [...]

Alzheimer’s is a common form of dementia and worsens as it progresses leading to death since it has no cure. People over 65 years are more at risk of suffering from the disease. As it progresses, it takes away a person’s memory. Seniors with Alzheimer’s are given the care they need by caregivers. Treatment and care can be done at home or in a nursing home. Caregiving is managed over [...]

As a new caregiver to family members, you may take care of those with chronic diseases, or illnesses, frail or disabled. You can help with household chores if they are not able to do them, manage medication or help dress and bathe them if incapable of doing so unaided. Being new to caregiving may easily overwhelm you. It can be exhausting, demanding, difficult and rewarding. It may also take time [...]

The aging process comes with individual role changes and transitions. Some roles, spouse or employee, may be bewildered, while new roles, widow or volunteer, may spring up. Such changes call for role adjustment or modification. The elements that may influence role adjustment include age, sex, beliefs, attitudes, financial gain, health, cultural background, and preceding experiences. With aging, changes in the marital role may take place. The division of work and [...]

Before a senior reaches a point where he or she is all mellow and embraces a come-what-may attitude, they will go through a phase when emotions run wild – some seniors don’t even get pass it! Young ones should understand that an aging body undergoes tremendous changes – at a very fast rate, at that – that these changes have become harder to accept especially when dealing with other non-age-related [...]

It is normal for us to be concerned about our aging loved-ones’ health so it is really important for us to know and be able to recognize signs of heath problems as early as possible. This way, we can help them right away and make their lives more comfortable and hassle-free. Thus the need to know warning signs and what to look for to identify health problems. It is important [...]

Holidays indeed pose another set of challenges for us caregivers! It’s hard enough to get our seniors moving everyday, what more when there’s unusual cheer in the air? The biggest challenge of all is to actually make holidays fun for both the senior and the caregiver. If you are planning to take your senior to a holiday vacation, you might want to read these handy tips so you’ll have more [...]

Sure there are pains, physical and emotional. Sure, there WILL BE pain, and suffering and whatnot but if you ask seniors – those who are past midlife crisis, mind you – will tell you, growing old and gray isn’t so bad, certainly not as bad as we imagined it to be. In fact, when you reach a certain age, when you feel you’ve already done your part and just awaiting [...]