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The Senior Community Lifestyle
Self-Care Tips for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
More people than ever are becoming family caregivers. Being the caregiver for a senior loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease can be both rewarding and exhausting. While it is often a labor of love, managing the complex needs of an older adult with memory loss is...
Can Veterans Get Help Paying for Senior Care?
Dear Donna: My brother and I recently started looking for an assisted living community for our parents. Over the past few months, it’s become clear that remaining in their home is no longer an option. Both parents have had falls inside and outside their house....
How to Identify and Address a Parent’s Fears about Senior Living
Dear Donna: My 92-year-old mom has been living alone in the home she’s been in for decades. Until recently, she’s been fine doing so with the help of an in-home caregiver. Lately, however, it seems like her quality of life is declining. Because I live four hours away,...
Tips for Planning a Summer Container Garden
After a winter that left many people self-isolating at home to try to avoid COVID-19 exposure, spring is finally on the horizon. If you are a senior with a love of gardening, one way to continue safely enjoying this hobby is container gardening. Digging in the dirt...
Benefits of Moving to Assisted Living
Today’s assisted living communities offer a wide range of services and amenities, from life enrichment activities to transportation, beauty/barber salons, and safe, thoughtfully designed apartments. These services support the care, independence, quality of life, and...
Should I Take My Mom with Me on Assisted Living Tours?
Dear Donna: My brother and I have recently started the search for an assisted living community in Michigan for our mother. She is reluctant to consider moving, so we are trying to narrow down the choices to those we strongly believe would be a good match. Based on our...
How Can I Better Organize My Dad’s Medical Information?
Dear Donna: My dad was diagnosed with a chronic health condition last spring. It’s a fairly complex illness with multiple physicians involved in his care. Because his condition came on suddenly, I never had an opportunity to come up with a system for organizing his...
Practical Safety Tips When a Loved One Has Alzheimer’s
When an aging parent has Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia, adult children face unique challenges. Protecting a parent with memory loss can be tough. Initially, you might need to assist with paying bills and managing household finances. It is common for...
Does Exercise Help with Dementia Prevention?
If a senior you love has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or a similar type of dementia, you may worry about your risk for developing the condition. Unfortunately, the cause of Alzheimer’s continues to elude researchers, as do potential genetic links. But there...
Why Seniors Are at Higher Risk for Vitamin D Deficiency in the Winter
Growing up, most people heard that drinking milk was necessary to build strong, healthy bones. And it’s true. Milk contains calcium and vitamin D, which are linked to better bone health. What few people know, however, is vitamin D doesn’t occur naturally in many...
Care for the Caregiver: Convincing a Spouse It’s Time for a Change
Dear Donna: My wife and I have been married for over 50 years. Several years ago, I suffered a stroke. While I have recovered a lot of my abilities, I am not able to do nearly as much as I used to. Not only does my wife have to help me with personal care, but she’s...
How Do We Start the Search for Assisted Living?
Dear Donna: My husband and I visited his mom in northern Michigan over the holidays. Even though we FaceTime with her each week, we weren’t prepared for how much her health has declined since we saw her last spring. Mom’s house hadn’t been cleaned well in a while, and...