Getting Your Siblings to Help With Caregiving

When an elderly parent’s health begins to fail, one adult child generally assumes the role of primary caregiver. While this arrangement may work well for a time, it can eventually lead to resentment when you find yourself shouldering most of the burden—especially if other siblings live nearby and still don’t help out.

Before you say or do something that you’ll regret later, it’s important to take a look at why you accepted this responsibility in the first place, says Lynne Coon, M.S., a licensed professional counselor in Portland, Oregon.

Tapping the Creative Brain for People With Alzheimer's and Related Diseases

his summer, a choir of nonprofessional singers with dementia performed its 23rd concert at Saint Peter’s Church in New York City. Founded in 2011, the Unforgettables learn new songs for each performance—even though many can’t remember what they ate for breakfast.

Simple Strategies for Caregivers to Practice Self-Care

Caregivers have a difficult time getting away from caregiving to take a vacation or even a spa day. However, it is critical to a caregiver’s well-being to take time for themselves and practice self-care. So, how can you work self-care into your life to preserve your well-being? I’ve rounded up 20 easy self-care activities you can do at home that take less than 20 minutes. 

Alzheimer's Caregiving: Caring for Yourself

Taking care of yourself—physically and mentally—is one of the most important things you can do as a caregiver. This could mean asking family members and friends to help out, doing things you enjoy, or getting help from a home health care service. Taking these actions can bring you some relief. It also may help keep you from getting ill or depressed.

Traveling with dementia: tips for family caregivers

Traveling with a loved one who has dementia requires special preparation. The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has some advice.

"Traveling is a fun and enjoyable way to reenergize your body and mind. It can be beneficial to people living with dementia and their family caregivers under the proper circumstances," said Charles Fuschillo Jr., foundation president and CEO.

Black Women Are Suffering From Alzheimer’s Disease And Nobody’s Talking About It

My grandmother had a morning ritual: She’d wake up around 6 a.m.; have some variation of coffee, crackers and sausage for breakfast; and then watch the Channel 4 news. Later, she would drive to the gas station for a few scratch-off tickets and to pick her lottery numbers. She’d always take the service road because she was afraid to drive the Dallas, Texas, freeways. 

Alzheimer's: Is Forgetfulness the First Sign?

Millions of aging boomers wonder if their memory lapses are the result of normal aging or a sign that they are developing Alzheimer’s. There’s some basis for the worry. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million people in the U.S. are living with it. One in three seniors will die with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia.

While these statistics are scary, you shouldn’t let them cloud the reality that many of us will age normally and will not develop AD, or any other type of dementia. Certainly, we will have some memory changes as we age. Improvements in our lifestyle may help mitigate some of those. Other changes we’ll just have to live with. So what is normal memory loss and when should we worry?

Hospital patients with dementia and other causes of confusion have worse outcomes, study finds

Hospital patients with dementia and other causes of confusion have longer stays and worse treatment outcomes than people without the condition, research led by the University of Stirling has found.

Alzheimer's Q&A: What does 'mixed dementia' mean?

Mixed dementia is a term used when someone has more than one type of dementia. Most commonly, mixed dementia is the terminology used when someone has been diagnosed with both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. However, it can also refer to a combination of Alzheimer’s disease and any other type of dementia. Physicians sometimes call this condition dementia-multifactorial.

Caregiving for People With Dementia Who Hallucinate

“What are you doing,” I asked my father.

“I’m babysitting.”

“What?”

“The kids are here.”

“Which kids?”

“You know, the kids from the neighborhood. They like to come here and play … they should be in the other room.”

Poverty & stress put people at greater risk of dementia – Alzheimer’s experts

The stress of poverty and life in disadvantaged neighborhoods raises the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease, and African Americans are one-and-a-half times more at risk of developing the cognitive disorder than whites, several new studies find.

A single major stressful event early in life can significantly damage a person’s cognitive health later on, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, which was presented at the 2017 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London this weekend.

Fitness and Aging Well: A Vital Correlation

How vital is fitness to aging well? Very. A recent study of participants in the 2015 National Senior Games, also known as the Senior Olympics, revealed that the typical participant had a fitness age of more than 20 years younger than his or her chronological age. According to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, fitness age is determined by a measure of cardiovascular endurance and is a better predictor of longevity than chronological age.