Caregiver Training Blog

Anyone who has served as a caretaker for a person with dementia knows that “challenging” doesn’t begin to describe what it is like to experience the mood swings, cognitive decline, and behavioral changes in your loved one.

The First Step to Preventing Elder Abuse Is Recognizing It

The physical, emotional, psychological, financial, and medical abuse of elders is a sad reality that causes pain and trauma for millions of older Americans.

Whether you care for a parent, grandparent, or another aging relative, transitioning to the role of family caregiver can be a challenge. Many family caregivers feel ill‑equipped to make tough decisions about long‑term care options, appropriate levels of care for loved ones with declining health, or even legal, financial, and medical terminology related to end‑of‑life decisions. 

Caring for someone with dementia can be physically and emotionally taxing. Part of the challenge is helping your loved one manage the frequent confusion, frustration, and mood swings that often accompany such neurodegenerative diseases.

According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly half of adults aged 75 and older have a hearing impairment. Unfortunately, when symptoms are ignored or left untreated, they can get worse.

Intimacy can be an uncomfortable subject for people with dementia and their family members. Changing sexuality caused by dementia makes this particularly challenging for family caregivers.

Let's take a closer look at common intimacy‑related dilemmas faced by caregivers. We'll also outline tips to cope with these changes.

Lewy body dementia (LBD) is one of the most common forms of dementia. However, it is frequently misdiagnosed as more commonly known illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia.

Caring for someone with dementia can be scary, confusing, and overwhelming. If you feel like you’re in the dark, you’re not alone.

Below, we take a closer look at the symptoms of LBD and unpack what caregivers should know about this complex disease.

We often talk about the emotional difficulties of being a family caregiver, but there are plenty of physical challenges too. One of the questions that comes up most often is how to change the sheets when your aging or sick loved one can't be moved from the bed.

Changing sheets regularly is important for the health and hygiene of your loved one. It’s a critical step toward preventing infections and bedsores. Refreshing an occupied bed isn’t easy, but it’s certainly possible.

Let's break down the nine steps involved in resetting a bed while a person is still in it.

When you're a family caregiver, stress can feel like a part of daily life. Most caregivers know that exercising, eating right, and spending time with friends can help keep burnout at bay. But there's another form of self‑care that perhaps you haven't tried—one that research shows can literally train your brain to calmly react to stressful situations.

We're talking about meditation.

Self‑care keeps your body and mind in peak condition. But it's hard to find time for self‑care when you spend your days caring for someone else. Perhaps you're parenting young children while also caring for aging parents. Maybe you're a caregiver for your spouse or an elderly friend or family member. Your caregiving role could be all the more challenging if your loved one has dementia. 

Being a family caregiver can be stressful. Mental burnout will occur quickly if you don’t stay on top of self‑care. Start by making small, wellness‑focused changes to your life. You’ll soon experience the benefits. Many aspects of self‑care seem obvious, like getting enough sleep, taking time to relax, eating a healthy diet, and getting regular exercise. Unfortunately, though these activities have proven benefits for mental health, they're often overlooked.