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A caregiver taking a mini-break to journal.

Caring for Yourself as a Caregiver with Mini-Breaks

Being a caregiver of an older adult with a chronic illness can be especially challenging. Trying to meet both their healthcare and safety needs can often take up most of a caregivers’ time.  Letting your loved ones’ care needs overshadow your own, however, can lead to resentment and impatience and can impact your own health. How can caregivers step away from their caregiving role and still ensure supervision and safety? Enter the mini-break, a small bitesize rest period that provides time to step out of the caregiving role without leaving the one you care for to do so.

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By Cathy Franz | 02/15/2023

An older couple reviewing their legal documents

How to Handle Advance Directives When a Loved One Has Dementia

Advance directives—legal documents that allow one to express their end-of-life wishes regarding finances and medical care—are important for all of us to consider as we age as a way of retaining decision-making authority no matter what happens to us. However, end-of-life can be a very difficult thing to confront. Even though advance directives are designed to help us protect our wishes and the futures of our loved ones, it's easy to delay making them until a health crisis happens. But what if that health crisis is dementia?

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By Julie Hayes | 01/17/2023

An older couple sharing stories with their grandson

4 Benefits of Reminiscence and Storytelling in Improving Caregiving

As we age, it can sometimes feel as if our lives are defined more by our health and the conditions we may be living with than by our past experiences, values and memories. For those coping with memory loss, it may be even harder to feel a connection to the past and the things that matter most. As caregivers, managing a loved one’s current wellbeing may seem a higher priority than reflecting on the past, but giving a loved one an outlet to reminisce may be more important than we think. Research shows that storytelling has numerous benefits not only for older adults, but also for their caregivers through improved, personalized care and better communication.

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By Julie Hayes | 01/17/2023

A caregiver and his older loved one flipping through a photo album

Useful Items to Have in the Home When Caring for a Loved One with Dementia

“Dementia products” are intended to make life easier for a person with dementia and their loved ones. Some of these products can indeed be helpful. However, often they go unused or hold interest only briefly. Before you jump in and try or buy something, do a little advance thinking about what your loved one's needs are, and what useful items you may already have in your home.

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By Jennifer Burke | 12/15/2022

A caregiver embracing her older loved one

Busting 4 of the Common Myths About Dementia

Though around 6 million individuals in the United States have a diagnosis of dementia, there are still many things that are not fully understood about the causes of the disease and how it can be better treated or even prevented entirely. There are also things about dementia that are commonly misunderstood. Stereotypes and broad generalizations about the disease can easily spread and become “fact” in the minds of the general public, ignoring the fact that dementia represents many different diagnoses and experiences, and cannot always be summed up in simple terms.

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By Julie Hayes | 11/15/2022