When you choose a facility for an elderly loved one, you will inevitably be offered a contract to sign. What should you do?

It has been more than a year since COVID burst onto the world stage. Now that we have a vaccine, things should be getting better, right? Elderly loved ones are safe, right? We can all relax now, right?

It’s not easy being a caregiver. I know this from personal experience.

Caregivers need support. They need someone to turn to. Most don’t have anyone.

As an elder care coordinator in a Life Care Planning Law Firm, I specialize in supporting family caregivers. It’s one of the most important parts of my job.

If you’re caring for an older relative, you’ve probably experienced it. You ask your loved one to do something. It could be anything: get dressed, take medicine on time, anything. Your loved one refuses.

Why does this happen? There are as many reasons as there are people. Fear of death, worries about being forced into a nursing home (if they’re not already there), dementia, frustration at the losses that come with advanced age, and depression over those losses are a few examples.

What is an advance directive? Why is it so important? Why do people put off creating them? We posed these questions to Jessica Greene, a Certified Elder Law Attorney at Walters & Galloway, PLLC, a Life Care Planning Law Firm in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Jessica has more than a decade of experience helping families address these delicate issues.

If someone you love needs Medicaid to help pay for long-term care in a nursing home, one Google search will reveal that there’s no shortage of traditional elder law attorneys who are ready and willing to help. But is a traditional elder law attorney, one whose practice focuses solely on getting older adults qualified for public benefits, really the best choice if your loved one needs long-term care?

When you care for a person with dementia, it doesn’t take long before you hear someone whisper the expression, “he’s sundowning.” What does this mean for a person with dementia and their caregivers?

What is Sundowning?

Sundowning is a syndrome and a label given to a group of symptoms commonly experienced by people with dementia in late afternoon or evening. The symptoms can vary but typically include worsened confusion, anxiety, and aggression as well as pacing or wandering.

By Rachel Kabb-Effron

Like many, the pandemic has led to a lot of TV watching for our family.  One of our favorites has been World’s Toughest Race – Fiji. It documents 66 teams in their desire to compete or merely finish a grueling 417-mile course over eleven days. My husband and I sit and watch in awe as the participants do this for their strange idea of “fun.”  We also ponder whether we would be strong enough in our relationship to be on a team together.