September 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the September newsletter!

Understanding & Managing Agitation

Agitation is a common experience for people diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and dementia. Agitation is also experienced by people with depression and anxiety disorders.

When agitation takes place it can escalate very quickly and if severe may require a hospital admission which can all be very distressing. Early recognition of signs and symptoms and acting quickly are crucial to avoiding this situation.

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Could Your Body Language Be Making Your Loved One Anxious?

Dear Candid Caregiver: My parents were always open about their long-term plans for retirement, saying that they’ve worked hard and retirement was going to be the payoff. Travel was huge on the horizon. Now, my dad has been diagnosed with mixed dementia, which, in his case, means Alzheimer’s and possibly Lewy body dementia, so their dreams are pretty much canceled. Mom is, for the most part, a good caregiver, but she’s resentful about what happened, and why wouldn’t she be? She has a right to these feelings except that her resentment shows through to Dad through her body language as well the tone of her voice, and from my observation, this increases Dad’s anxiety.

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Report Sounds Alarm on Medication Overload Among Older Americans

Experts on aging are sounding the alarm about another U.S. drug crisis: Too many older adults taking too many medications.

This trend is leading to a surge in adverse drug events (ADE) over the past two decades. The rate of emergency department visits by older adults for adverse drug events doubled between 2006 and 2014. That’s a problem as serious as the opioid crisis, but whose scope appears to remain virtually invisible to families, patients, policymakers and many clinicians, according to a recent report by the Lown Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Brookline, Mass.

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August 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the August newsletter!

Why Does Language Break Down in Dementia?

We listen to sounds coming out of someone’s mouth and turn it into meaning so often and so easily we hardly ever think about it. But when we visit a foreign country and cannot understand the language, we are reminded of how miraculous our ability to understand speech really is.

Similarly impressive is our ability to express our meaning to another person through uttering sounds. In this article, we will learn how language works, and why it breaks down in aging and dementia.

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10 Quick and Easy Dysphagia Diet Recipes (for Swallowing Problems): 5 Ingredients or Less

Are you looking for fast, nutritious dysphagia meals for your older adult? When it comes to dealing swallowing problems, the task can seem challenging – from making just the right consistency of food to actually helping your older adult eat.

In my case, my mother has advanced stages of primary progressive MS as well as brain damage from years of seizures. Feeding her is a trial. She can rarely be fed with a spoon anymore, but reacts better to drinking everything out of bottles.

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Communicating With a Person Who Has Dementia Takes Skill, Heart

Communicating with someone who has dementia can be an ever-changing challenge. But some things never change. One of those constants is that caregivers and friends must fully understand and accept that the person with dementia is not a child any sense of the word.

Dementia may have robbed our friends or loved ones of their ability to understand their own environment, follow a sequence of directions or even understand how to use the toilet. These issues do not in any way make these people less than adults and they should never be treated as such.

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July 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the July newsletter!

The Strange Political Silence On Elder Care

For Alexis Baden-Mayer, who lives with and cares for her two elderly parents, the audiobook of Marcel Proust’s six-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time, has two distinct benefits. First, it provides 150 hours of literary distraction. Second, it features a character who jokes about excrement.

“Play it in the car as you drive your loved-ones to doctors appointments,” she wrote in a blog post about her caregiving experience. “Play it each morning as you strip soiled linens from the mattresses, make beds and fold laundry. Play it, as I have, to try to calm and distract yourself as you bark commands to your dementia-addled mother to wipe her butt and drop the toilet paper in the toilet.”

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Seeking Family Forgiveness Through Caregiving

One of my patients, Marla (not her real name), spent decades paying the price for being a rebellious teenager, quitting school and moving several states away. As an adult, she and her parents never talked about those troubled years during their weekly phone calls, but her family didn't ever fully trust her again. She felt helpless to gain their forgiveness and shed her negative image.

Then her mother had a devastating stroke and, not long afterward, her father died suddenly. All at once, Marla saw an opportunity to help her mother, but also to redeem herself — to prove once and for all that she was a good daughter, capable and dependable. She hoped to finally win some respect and love.

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Immigrants Play Large Role in Combating Home Health Caregiver Shortage

A large proportion of home health workers in the U.S. are immigrants, according to a new study compiled with census data. But stricter immigration policies proposed by the Trump administration could reduce the number of foreign-born health care workers and further fuel the nationwide caregiver shortage, some experts say.

More than 23% of home health, psychiatric and nursing aides were born outside the U.S., while almost 9% — and maybe more — were not citizens as of 2016, according to the report.

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June 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the June newsletter!

6 Things to Try Before Using Antipsychotic Medications for Dementia Behaviors

When seniors with dementia have challenging behaviors like anxiety, aggression, agitation, or others, it’s exhausting and frustrating.

When you’re at the end of your rope, you might think that behavioral medication (usually antipsychotics) could solve the problem. This is a common misconception and unfortunately, it’s often not true.

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6 Myths About Elder Abuse

What do you think of when you hear the term elder abuse? Maybe you get an image of an older woman developing bedsores from neglect in a nursing home. Or a phone scammer taking advantage of a man with dementia. Maybe you assume the people who harm older adults are caregivers who’ve been stressed to the breaking point.

While all of those scenarios can and do occur, they don’t represent the complex range and severity of abuse that older adults suffer nationwide.

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3 Ways to Respond When Someone with Alzheimer’s Says I Want to Go Home

Hearing seniors say “I want to go home” over and over again is something Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers often deal with. It’s especially frustrating to hear when they’re already home.

The big question is how to respond in a way that calms them down and helps them let go of the idea.

First, it helps to understand why they’re saying this and what they really mean. Next, do your best to not take it personally so you can stay calm too.

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May 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the May newsletter!

Financing Assisted Living for Yourself or a Loved One

Assisted living care can cost upwards of $5,000 a month and many Americans have found that they or their senior loved ones are running out of money to cover their care.Financing Assisted Living

Here are some expert tips to help your finances go further during these difficult times.

Retirement costs are often much higher than people anticipate and can drastically affect the quality of you or your loved one’s retirement years. Searching for assisted living can be both emotionally and mentally draining, not to mention time-sensitive, which is why families often end up spending more than they need to on care.

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The future of housing looks nothing like today’s

What does a living room have to do with living?

When Lisa Cini and her husband, kids, and rescue dog moved in with her parents and grandmother a few years ago, the Ohio-based architect pored over the design of her 94-year-old grandma’s bedroom “apartment.” An Alzheimer’s diagnosis made security and mobility important, but her ideas went beyond extra locks and grab-bars; she felt it was crucial that she have her own living room within the family home.

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8 Expert Tips for When Aging Parents Won’t Listen

Our parents always asked that we listen, but what happens when they refuse to listen to us? Some adult children are finding that their parents don’t always know best when it comes to their driving, housing, medication and more.8 Expert Tips for When Aging Parents Won’t Listen

Learn more about what to do when your aging parents aren’t listening to you.

Research out of Penn State University, the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging and the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, found that 77% of adult children believe their parents are stubborn about taking their advice or getting help with daily problems.

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April 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the April newsletter!

How Often Should Seniors Bathe? 3 Essential Health Tips

Getting an older adult to bathe is a struggle for many family caregivers.

The biggest worry is that not bathing will cause skin or urinary tract infections. Seniors might also get itchy or develop strong body odor.

But how often should seniors bathe to prevent health problems?

We’ve got 3 essential bathing tips to keep your older adult clean and healthy while minimizing arguments and stress.

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4 Ways to Get Someone with Dementia to Change Clothes

A common challenge for Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers is figuring out how to get someone with dementia to change clothes regularly.

The damage that dementia does to the brain can cause behavior like this that doesn’t make sense to us.

Your older adult might refuse to change even if their clothes have been worn nonstop for a week and are obviously soiled and smelly. Or, they might insist on wearing the same outfit day or night. And sometimes they might choose clothing that completely clashes and looks strange.

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8 Ways To Prevent Alzheimer’s Wandering

Getting lost or accidentally wandering away is a serious issue for people with Alzheimer’s or dementia and a major worry for caregivers.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 6 out of 10 people with dementia will wander. It can happen at any point in the disease, even if they’ve never done it before.

It might seem unbelievable that seniors who are frail, slow-moving, or use a walker could get very far without anyone noticing. But it really does happen!

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March 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the March newsletter!

The Key to Understanding the Challenging Behaviors of Dementia

Caregivers to parents and senior loved ones with dementia already know that it can be difficult to care for a loved one as the disease progresses. Dementia can make a person exhibit challenging behaviors and psychological symptoms that are upsetting for everyone involved.The Key to Understanding the Challenging Behaviors of Dementia

Although we can’t prevent these behaviors or changes, there are ways to better understand and deal with them. Read our tips for handling the challenging behaviors associated with dementia.

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6 Ways to Help Someone Who Doesn’t Know They’re Ill: Anosognosia in Dementia

Family caregivers often ask “how do you tell someone they have dementia”? And in some cases, the answer may be that you simply can’t.

Damage in the brain can cause people with Alzheimer’s, dementia, stroke, brain tumors, and other cognitive impairments to believe that there’s nothing wrong with them.

When that happens, it’s called anosognosia (pronounced ah-no-sog-NOH-zee-uh). The word literally means “to not know a disease” and it’s much more than being in denial.

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In Caregiving, Anxiety Can Be Contagious

We all live with a certain amount of worry, much of which is caused by fear of the unknown. Since health issues can change without warning, caregivers and the people they care for often live with elevated levels of anxiety. This can be detrimental, not only to the person who is suffering from these feelings of apprehension and concern, but it also affects those around them.

For example, if a caregiver is anxious due to care decisions or work-related stress, they likely bring that anxiety home in some form and unintentionally transfer some of it to the person they are caring for.

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February 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the February newsletter!

5 Benefits of An Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or Dementia

If your older adult is behaving oddly or showing signs of cognitive impairment, like memory or judgement problems, you might wonder if it’s part of normal aging or if they could have Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Nobody wants to admit that someone they care about could have such a devastating condition. And even though you’re worried, you might think it’s useless to get a diagnosis because there’s no cure.

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Transforming Patient Care: 5 Nurse Leaders Offer Insight

As the healthcare landscape changes, nurse leaders are being asked to forge new paths to achieve high-quality, cost-effective patient-centered care.

For example, patient care is growing beyond acute care. Nurses are connecting with patients in more settings than ever before through new and changing roles in areas like care coordination or outpatient clinics. These new roles demand that nurses have different knowledge, skills, and competencies than in the past. Additionally, patients expect care to be delivered in a seamless, timely, and efficient manner that takes into account their personal needs and preferences. How do nurse leaders meet the challenge of the transformation of patient care?

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Why Women? Studying the Role of Gender in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease hits women harder than men. Nearly two-thirds of Americans who have Alzheimer’s are women, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Worldwide, 47 million people are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias — including nearly 6 million in the United States — so the number of women affected is staggering.

The neurodegenerative disorder’s most common form, called late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, occurs after age 65.

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January 2019 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the January newsletter!

End-of-life issues in advanced dementia

Objective - To review the issues with setting goals of care for patients with advanced dementia, describe the respective roles of the physician and the patient’s family in the decision-making process, and suggest ways to support families who need more information about the care options.

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Caregiver’s Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors

Caring for a loved one with dementia poses many challenges for families and caregivers. People with dementia from conditions such as Alzheimer’s and related diseases have a progressive biological brain disorder that makes it more and more difficult for them to remember things, think clearly, communicate with others, and take care of themselves.

Read the Tips

New Approaches for Dealing With Difficult Dementia Behaviors

When most people think of someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, they picture a senior with a benign, slightly confused demeanor who repeats themselves. But, there is a whole spectrum of other types of behaviors associated with the disease that most of us wouldn’t describe as slightly or “pleasantly confused” by any stretch of the imagination.

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December 2018 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the December newsletter!

Long-Distance Caregiving: Tips for Success

Long-distance caregiving presents unique challenges. If you find yourself in the long-distance caregiving role, here is a summary of things to keep in mind.

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End-of-Life Care: ER Doctor Answers Our Questions

Emergency-room doctor Kevin Haselhorst had an epiphany while he tried valiantly to save an elderly man who’d been through one-too-many traumas. His book, “Wishes To Die For: A Caregiver’s Guide to Advance Care Directives,” was the first step toward a new advocacy.

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4 Ways to Overcome Caregiver Loneliness in Dementia Care

When you’re caring for an older adult with dementia, loneliness is a common feeling.

It might feel like nobody else understands what you’re going through, even if you have a good support system.

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7 Ways to Talk to Someone With Dementia

What’s worse than finding out your loved one has Alzheimer’s? Getting an Alzheimer’s diagnosis yourself. And the stigma and social isolation that comes with the disease is no help when the loneliness starts to set in, according to dementia patients.

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Lewy body dementia

Lewy body dementia, also known as dementia with Lewy bodies, is the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's disease dementia. Protein deposits, called Lewy bodies, develop in nerve cells in the brain regions involved in thinking, memory and movement (motor control).

Lewy body dementia causes a progressive decline in mental abilities. People with Lewy body dementia may experience visual hallucinations, and changes in alertness and attention. Other effects include Parkinson's disease-like symptoms such as rigid muscles, slow movement and tremors.

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November 2018 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the November newsletter!

Causes of Hallucinations & Delusions in Dementia and Caregiver Tips for Coping

Dementia can affect how an individual perceives the world. A person with dementia may think that she / he can see or hear something that isn’t there or believe something that is not true. In earlier stages of the disease, the individual will usually be able to recognize that this is simply a figment of her imagination. However, as the disease progresses to mid and late stages, these individuals may begin to have more and more trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality.

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Sundowning Top Tips: How to Minimize Confusion with a Daily Care Routine

The AgingCare.com forum is filled with people coming together to share valuable information. We’ve compiled experienced dementia caregivers’ suggestions for devising a routine that will minimize sundowning behaviors.  

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Tips for Alzheimer's Caregivers

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia impacts every aspect of your daily life. As an Alzheimer’s patient loses one ability after another, a caregiver faces tests of stamina, problem solving, and resiliency. Maintaining your emotional and physical fitness is crucial, not just for you but also for the person you’re caring for. Preparing yourself, understanding your loved one’s experience, and seeking support from others can help you succeed on the caregiving journey.

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October 2018 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the October newsletter!

Effect of therapeutic touch on agitated behavior in elderly patients with dementia

A paper on the efficacy of using theraputic touch, originally published in the International Journal of Nursing Sciences.

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Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Differences in the Dementia Caregiving Experience: Recent Findings

Originally published in The Gerontologist, this research reviewed studies that compare two or more racial, ethnic, national, or cultural groups on aspects of the dementia caregiving experience.

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Ethical issues in dementia

The growing number of individuals affected by dementia will intensify the ethical issues that emerge in clinical practice and research, issues early in disease relate to genetic testing, use of medications in mildly affected persons, and diagnostic disclosure. Written by Peter J. Whitehouse, MD; Phd

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Caregiver’s Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors

Caring for a loved one with dementia poses many challenges for families and caregivers. People with dementia from conditions such as Alzheimer’s and related diseases have a progressive biological braindisorder that makes it more and more difficult for them to remember things, think clearly, communicate with others, and take care of themselves. 

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Alzheimer's Disease and Legal Issues

People with Alzheimer's may be able to manage their own legal and financial affairs at first. But as the disease gets worse, they’ll need to rely on others to act in their best interests. It’s not an easy change.

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New Approaches for Dealing With Difficult Dementia Behaviors

When most people think of someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, they picture a senior with a benign, slightly confused demeanor who repeats themselves. But, there is a whole spectrum of other types of behaviors associated with the disease that most of us wouldn’t describe as slightly or “pleasantly confused” by any stretch of the imagination.

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Link to CEU Quiz

September 2018 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the September newsletter!

Alzheimer's stages: How the disease progresses

Alzheimer's disease tends to develops slowly and gradually worsens over several years. Eventually, Alzheimer's disease affects most areas of your brain. Memory, thinking, judgment, language, problem-solving, personality and movement can all be affected by the disease.

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Researchers study alcohol's link to Alzheimer's

Nearly one century after Alzheimer's disease (AD) was discovered, doctors are still searching for its causes. Age is certainly a factor: Alzheimer's usually develops in people over age 60, and about half of people over 85 may have it. Family history also plays a role.

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Dehydration and Malnutrition in Alzheimer's Disease

Occasionally you read about people with dementia who have died from malnutrition or dehydration, even when being cared for in a nursing home, hospital, or by caregivers. You cannot believe that such a situation has occurred, that it must be an obvious case of abuse.

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Validation Therapy for Dementia

Developed in the 1960s and 1970s by Naomi Feil, validation therapy for dementia offers holistic therapy that empathizes with elderly patients by helping to connect with them through listening and dignified care in their final stages of life. With a little patience and observation, validation therapy also offers a glimpse into the human brain, stages of dementia, and the desire for peace before death.

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Validation Therapy, Redirection

If you have a loved one with Alzheimer's or dementia, then you know how difficult it can be to communicate with him or her. Maybe there are good or bad days. Maybe there are certain times of the day that are better or worse. The following are techniques that can be used improve communication with the person you love.

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August 2018 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the August newsletter!

3 simple ways to manage challenging behaviors associated with dementia

Dementia can be a devastating diagnosis. The characteristic problems with memory, thinking, language and judgment are a challenge, but there are also “behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia” (BPSD), including agitation, aggression, wandering, resistance to care, delusions, hallucinations and repetitive speech. These symptoms can be very upsetting for people with dementia as well as their loved ones, and are often the reason people are admitted to long-term care (1).

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About Delirium

Delirium is a serious disturbance in mental abilities that results in confused thinking and reduced awareness of the environment. The start of delirium is usually rapid — within hours or a few days.

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Hallucinations and Delusions Associated with Dementia

Dementia can affect how an individual perceives the world. A person with dementia may think that she can see or hear something that isn’t there or believe something that is not true. In earlier stages of the disease, she will usually be able to recognize that this is simply a figment of her imagination. However, as the disease progresses, these individuals may begin to have more and more trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality.

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Hallucinations, Delusions and Paranoia Related to Dementia

According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, the major psychiatric symptoms of middle stage Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia include hallucinations, delusions and paranoia. About 40 percent of dementia patients experience delusions, while hallucinations occur in about 25 percent of cases. When a senior is experiencing hallucinations and delusions, their caregiver often wants to help them understand that these beliefs and experiences are not real.

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June 2018 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Caregiver’s Newsletter! Many of you have asked us for more information about the caregiving profession and we are now pleased to provide this to you each month.

At the end of this newsletter you will find a link to a short quiz, composed of several questions about the content. These are designed to provide a convenient way for you to earn a valuable CE Credit (continuing education) that you will need for your annual renewal.

Thank you for the work you do in eldercare. This precious group of Americans rely on you to be their eyes and ears on the world. Thank you for seeing the people they are and valuing their lives each and every day!

NCBAC Management Team

Family Caregivers Finally Get A Break — And Some Coaching

For today, there are no doctor's visits. No long afternoons with nothing to do. No struggles over bathing.

At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., a group of older adults — some in wheelchairs, some with Alzheimer's — sit with their caregivers in a semicircle around a haunting portrait of a woman in white.

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Our New Online Portal

You can now view and make changes to the contact information we have on file for you, and you can also view your current certification expiration date, and any CEU credits you have earned through our newsletters. Watch this video for a quick demo of all of the features.

All new and current CAC™ and CAEd™ can request access to the portal before your renewal date if you'd like access ASAP. Just send us an email through the website's contact us page.

Being a Healthy Caregiver

As a caregiver, you may find yourself with so many responsibilities that you neglect taking good care of yourself. But the best thing you can do for the person you are caring for is stay physically and emotionally strong.

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The Invisible Profession: Caregiving And The Future Of Work

Today’s American families need more caregiving support than ever before - yet caregiving work is not visible, not valued, and not supported well enough to meet the soaring demand. Social entrepreneurs Ai-jen Poo, who leads National Domestic Workers Alliance and  Caring Across Generations, and Jessica Sager, co-founder of All Our Kin, are working to radically reframe this issue and chart a new and sustainable course. Ashoka’s Brittany Koteles caught up with them to learn more. 

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America faces a shortage of caregivers

There is a lot of discussion today about our divided nation. Extreme partisanship, economic inequality, racism, the urban/rural schism, gender conflict – take your pick of topics. But the aging American population holds the potential to unite many of us. Regardless of our differences, people we care about may soon need our help. And we aren’t ready to help them.

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My Vexing/ Gratifying 7 Years Of Caregiving

On April 26, while lying motionless in her nursing home bed with closed eyelids and a gaping mouth, my 86-year-old mother took two last short breaths before peacefully going still. Her death from complications of dementia and kidney failure brought to a close a nearly 7-year, sometimes rancorous period of family caregiving after my wife and I moved her up from Florida to live near us. We then gradually took over every aspect of her life.

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