Caregiver Training Blog

You never really know how it will go when visiting a family member with dementia.

They might recognize you and reach out in love and appreciation that you came to see them. Or they might withdraw or lash out in frustration, seemingly angry at the world for being so confusing.

And you love them all the same.

Falls are serious — and can be deadly for seniors.

One in four older adults (36 million) reports a fall each year. That’s cause for concern.

So it’s no surprise that seniors and caregivers are seriously worried about falls.

The first thing to know about heart failure is that it is not a failure—on the part of the patient, the doctors, or the family caregiver.

The heart is still working, just not as well as it could be.

Living with heart failure is a challenge, but many seniors (and some younger folks) are doing it.

With the right medical care, a firm knowledge base, and excellent caregiving, heart failure is a manageable condition.

We know from experience and scientific studies that older adults are more vulnerable to many diseases and need extra protection.

An illness that can cause mild symptoms in young people can cause serious harm to an older person. That’s one reason why it’s important to stay up to date on vaccines.

Pain is a public health crisis.

If you look at the numbers, it appears we are a nation in pain. In fact, chronic pain is one of the main reasons older Americans visit doctors. A 2018 study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 52% of people 65 and older listed chronic conditions as their reason for visiting a doctor.

Men don’t seem to like talking to their doctors about prostate issues and erectile dysfunction—even though both are fairly common and treatable among older men.

It’s time to break the taboo and talk about what’s going on down there because sometimes pain can signal something more serious going on in the body.

Millions of families are struggling to care for a loved one with dementia. And because dementia sometimes affects people’s ability to communicate, it’s not always clear to us what is happening to the brains and bodies of those we love.

If you have a relative who has experienced a stroke, or “mini‑strokes,” they might develop a form of dementia called vascular dementia.

It can be difficult for caregivers and family members to hear that a loved one has dementia. 

When their memory, reasoning, and judgment show signs of impairment, we worry that we are losing the person we have known. But it’s important to recognize that dementia is not a disease; it’s a collection of symptoms. And some of those symptoms can be managed through medical care and dementia activities.

No one lives forever.

But it’s so hard to let go. Losing a loved one can be one of the most devastating events in our lifetime.

But your relative is sitting right next to you. Why do you feel so sad/angry/confused?

What was I doing here? Where are my keys? Wallet? Purse? How could my cell phone be missing again? 

Sound familiar?