Families Caring for an Aging America
Families Caring for an Aging America

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-12-08

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 0309448069

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Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

Navigating the Journey of Aging Parents
Navigating the Journey of Aging Parents

Author: Cheryl A. Kuba

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-13

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1135441197

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Navigating the Journey of Aging Parents proposes an entirely unique approach to the field of gerontology, giving dependent care receivers a voice. Caregivers will be made aware of what care receivers truly want during life's final chapters. Exploring issues of housing, spirituality, personal care and death, Cheryl Kuba has created a testament to the dependent elderly. This book draws on numerous interviews with aging people and discusses common caregiver mistakes and interpretations, what a caregiver should expect when an aging parent moves in, and how to care for an aging parent from afar. Kuba also delves into such phenomena as guilt, role reversal, changing family dynamics, financial stress, and caring for oneself while caring for another. The 22.4 million elderly people being cared for in the United States comprises the fastest growing segment of the population, making this reference on the opinions and concerns of care receivers invaluable.

Fast Facts for Dementia Care
Fast Facts for Dementia Care

Author: Carol A. Miller, MSN, RN-BC

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

Published: 2012-05-17

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0826120377

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This newest addition to the Fast Facts series is a succinct guide for nurses in adult health clinical settings on how to provide person-centered care for patients who have dementia as a concurrent condition. With an easy-access format, it offers the most up-to-date information on dementia and provides strategies for clinical management that facilitate the nurse's work while improving care for patients. The book presents specific care strategies for all stages of dementia and emphasizes relatively simple interventions that nurses can incorporate into their care plans to prevent problems or address them before they escalate. The guide distinguishes between dementia and conditions that mimic dementia, discusses issues related to specific care settings, presents person-centered strategies for families and care partners, and covers the assessment and management of pain, safety concerns, communication strategies, and ethical and legal issues. It additionally provides numerous resources that nurses can offer to caregivers. Fast Facts for Dementia Care will serve as a daily companion for all clinical nurses who work with older patients in any setting, including the emergency room, medical-surgical unit, medical office, and community mental health settings. Key Features: Easy to use and carry in all patient settings Provides communication techniques for different stages of dementia Describes numerous interventions for addressing issues such as pain, safety, behaviours, and ADLs Includes the ìFast Facts in a Nutshellî feature for quick reference Illustrates content with case vignettes

The Harsh Realities of Alzheimer's Care
The Harsh Realities of Alzheimer's Care

Author: Andrew Seth Rosenzweig MD

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2012-07-06

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13:

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A prominent geriatric psychiatrist details the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of places where those with dementia are treated—from emergency rooms and psychiatric hospitals to assisted living facilities and nursing homes. The Harsh Realities of Alzheimer's Care: An Insider's View of How People with Dementia Are Treated in Institutions is the first book of its kind. Written by an eminent geriatric psychiatrist who has worked with dementia patients in more than 70 facilities, the book distills all he has learned about dementia care, for better and, more often, for worse. Both a shocking exposé and a practical guide, the book takes readers into nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. It reveals the inadequacies and dangers of these institutions, detailing issues that result in poor care including federal standards for minimum staff training that are, in some cases, lower than those established for dog groomers. The author cites improvements that must be made in emergency rooms and inpatient psychiatric facilities treating victims of dementia, and he documents the downside of memory clinics. But there are steps caregivers can take to protect their loved ones—and themselves. Each chapter concludes with "reality lessons" that offer practical, affordable strategies for coping with dementia's many challenges.

Spiritual Assessment and Intervention with Older Adults
Spiritual Assessment and Intervention with Older Adults

Author: Mark Brennan

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9780789027481

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Spiritual Assessment and Intervention: Current Directions and Applications examines current state-of-the-art efforts in the development and implementation of spiritual interventions for older adults. Academics and practitioners working in social work, social welfare, medicine, and mental health and aging present innovative approaches to meeting major challenges in the field of gerontology, including elder abuse, dementia, care giving, palliative care, and intergenerational relationships. The book provides practical methods for dealing with the problems and pitfalls of starting and evaluating interventions of a spiritual nature in a variety of community-based and institutional settings.

Already Toast
Already Toast

Author: Kate Washington

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2021-03-16

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0807011754

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The story of one woman’s struggle to care for her seriously ill husband—and a revealing look at the role unpaid family caregivers play in a society that fails to provide them with structural support. Already Toast shows how all-consuming caregiving can be, how difficult it is to find support, and how the social and literary narratives that have long locked women into providing emotional labor also keep them in unpaid caregiving roles. When Kate Washington and her husband, Brad, learned that he had cancer, they were a young couple: professionals with ascending careers, parents to two small children. Brad’s diagnosis stripped those identities away: he became a patient and she his caregiver. Brad’s cancer quickly turned aggressive, necessitating a stem-cell transplant that triggered a massive infection, robbing him of his eyesight and nearly of his life. Kate acted as his full-time aide to keep him alive, coordinating his treatments, making doctors’ appointments, calling insurance companies, filling dozens of prescriptions, cleaning commodes, administering IV drugs. She became so burned out that, when she took an online quiz on caregiver self-care, her result cheerily declared: “You’re already toast!” Through it all, she felt profoundly alone, but, as she later learned, she was in fact one of millions: an invisible army of family caregivers working every day in America, their unpaid labor keeping our troubled healthcare system afloat. Because our culture both romanticizes and erases the realities of care work, few caregivers have shared their stories publicly. As the baby-boom generation ages, the number of family caregivers will continue to grow. Readable, relatable, timely, and often raw, Already Toast—with its clear call for paying and supporting family caregivers—is a crucial intervention in that conversation, bringing together personal experience with deep research to give voice to those tasked with the overlooked, vital work of caring for the seriously ill.

Caring for Our Parents
Caring for Our Parents

Author: Howard Gleckman

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2009-05-26

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1429988304

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When his mother-in-law died suddenly and his seriously ill father-in-law was left with no one to care for him, the author and his wife were thrust into the complex and overwhelming world of long-term care. Just months later his own father fell sick, and the couple struggled to help care for him too—from 1000 miles away. Over the next year-and-a-half, this ordinary family faced one crisis after another, as each day brought new struggle and pain, but also surprising rewards. They were among the 44 million Americans who are caring for elderly parents or relatives or friends with disabilities. Someone you love will almost certainly need long-term care services before they die. Nearly 70 percent of our parents will receive such help sometime during their old age—usually at home, though often in a nursing home. It will last for an average of three years, though one in five will need this assistance for five years or more. This book tells the sometimes painful, sometimes uplifting, and always compelling stories of the families who struggle every day with the care needs of their loved ones. The costs are crushing: and the weight of 77 million aging Baby Boomers will devastate our nation's already fragile system for funding this critical day-to-day assistance. How can we repair the tattered safety net that is so essential to our aged and disabled?

Elderly Parent Caregiver Guide
Elderly Parent Caregiver Guide

Author: HowExpert

Publisher: HowExpert

Published: 2019-08-08

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 1647586852

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Elderly Parent Caregiver 101 is the ultimate guide for adult children who are or will become their parents’ caregivers. Filled with valuable information and ideas, this book offers hope, support, and plenty of practical advice for anyone caring for their elderly parents. Each chapter describes a different area of caregiving, including: • Becoming a Caregiver • Medical Providers • Facility Care • Caregiver Support • Financial Concerns • Medical Devices • Special Circumstances • End of Life As the author guides you through the maze of caregiving, she shares her knowledge as a nurse and examples from her own journey of caregiving for her elderly parents. This book defines medical terms, explains insurance options, and highlights the many tools available to caregivers. Through these topics, you’ll gain the understanding needed to be a caregiver for your elderly parents. Each section offers helpful information and true insights only a caregiver can provide. The tips in every chapter are practical facts and advice for every area of your caregiving. You are not alone in your caregiving journey. Don’t struggle without having the best resource for knowing everything you need to know about caring for your elderly parents. This guide is your trusted companion for that journey. About the Expert Rebecca Rehak, LPN, is a nurse, writer, and public speaker who has worked in the medical field for over 20 years, including kidney dialysis, community health, and Memory Care. As a public speaker, she helped advance programs for dialysis access care and currently teaches science camps for children. Her work has touched the lives of thousands of people. After caring for both her elderly parents, she now devotes much of her time to writing articles, blogs, and providing support for other caregivers. She and her husband live with their big, furry dog in Wisconsin. The author would like to thank the doctors and staff at Froedtert Hospital, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Horizon Home Care and Hospice for the wonderful care they provided to both her parents. HowExpert publishes quick 'how to' guides on all topics from A to Z by everyday experts.