Parents and Grandparents

Update 15th November -

Helping Your Parent to a New Life
My parents knew they would eventually have to move somewhere. They lived 25 miles from Charlottesville, Va., the nearest city. Their home and 30-acre property in the Virginia countryside required upkeep. My father had undergone cancer surgery that affected his speech, and he worried about making himself understood by phone in an emergency. They would certainly move to town or close to one of their four children . . . someday. Read the story

Update 1st October -

10 Steps to Increase Your Parent’s Mental Agility and Memory
Forget almost everything you have been taught over the years about the aging human brain. Almost 70 years ago, a scientist declared that the aging brain diminished in memory, agility, and functionality while increasing in senility. Without much challenge, this theory was accepted for decades and taught as fact.Read More

THE WORRIES ADULT CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS EXPERIENCE FOR ONE ANOTHER
This study examined the worries adults and their parents experience for one another. To date, relatively little research has considered the experience of worry in this relationship. A small number of studies, however, suggest worry is relatively common in this relationship.Read More

What To Do If Your Aging Parent Refuses To Go To The Doctor
Changing to a new doctor is often stressful, but for an elder who is set in their ways, seeing an unfamiliar physician can be extremely unsettling. It is important to do, however, as the right doctor can make all the difference in managing the myriad of health problems older people often have. It is important to find one with interest in treating older adults a Geriatrician is best, which is an MD with a specialty in geriatrics. Bottom line: a physician with a heart for Seniors. Read More

Update 1st September

Grandma and Grandpa Taking Care of the Kids: Patterns of Involvement
Over the last decade, considerable media attention and public discussion have focused on the varied roles that grandparents play in family life. Much of this public attention has centered on grandparents who assume parental responsibilities for their grandchildren.Read More

Second innings in parenting
How would you picture the life of a retired couple? Quiet and slow paced. Morning walks, leisurely breakfast, regular siesta, visit to park/temple in the evening.Interspersed with the excitement of visiting children and grandchildren during the holidays and festivals.Know More

Essential Care for the Sick & Dying
A natural reaction for those not accustomed to helping the dying is to withdraw and leave the dying person alone. Thus, dying people are often lonely and depressed. They feel abandoned and hopeless and may become resentful or withdrawn.
Read in detail

Understanding your Emotion about Grieving
Grieving is usually associated with the death of someone important in your life. This can be referred to as "big death", since it usually involves a family member or friend. However, life is full of "little deaths" as well. They occur unexpectedly and take many forms such as: the unexplained loss of a job; the loss of a pet; loss of a budding romance; or an expectation of someone that is not fulfilled.Read More

Update 1st August -

GRAND PARENTS OR GLORIFIED SERVANTS ? – A Study
The object of the study was to ascertain the views of the senior citizens about such expectation of sons and daughters / sons in law and daughters in law and the problems and difficulties that the elders face in meeting such demand. Read More

End of lifestyle
My friend was cared for in a hospice, receiving medical, emotional and spiritual support. But many people experience the most pain, discomfort and loss of dignity at the end of their lives. For someone who cannot do things themselves, something as basic as forgetting to offer them a drink amounts to neglect. Read here

Supporting Friends and Family Who Have Mental Illnesses
If you have a family member or friend who’s been diagnosed with a mental illness, you’re probably wondering what you can do to help. Although new forms of therapy and medication make it possible for many individuals to lead full, independent lives, the support of family, friends and peers remains an essential element in the recovery process. Read in Detail

Ten Reasons Why Your Parent May Not Be Eating Properly
Proper nutrition is vital to your parent for maintaining health, retaining and building bone mass and, importantly, to enable medications to work effectively in the body -- and possibly with fewer side effects.But, what if Mom or Dad won’t eat whether properly, or won’t eat enough? This creates an added challenge to you as caregiver. Read More

The ABCs of Grandparenting
Becoming a grandparent changes everything. Coupled with incomparable joy is uncertainty about where you fit in. Your role -- not always appreciated by society -- is vitally important in shaping a grandchild's life. You and the parents want what's best for the child. But you discover you don't always share the same customs and language. You've entered their world, sometimes feeling like a foreign ambassador. What you need is a diplomatic guide. Know more

When elders get depressed: it's not just "old age"
Feeling forgetful and hopeless. Not eating. Bad moods. These are signs of depression no matter how old you are. Here's how to get help for older people with depression. Read More

Update 1st July -

Grieving: Facing Illness, Death and Other Losses
Grief is a normal, healthy response to loss. One of the greatest losses that can occur is the death of someone you love. Other losses include the loss of your health or the health of someone you care about, or the end of an important relationship, such as a marriage. Healing from a loss involves coming to terms with the loss and the meaning of the loss in your life.Read More

Update 1st June -

Caring for Parents Who Didn't Care for You
Last week, a journalist (we’ll call her Nancy) wanted to interview me about some caregiving issues. We chatted a bit about the article she was writing and she got some quotes. During the talk, we bonded. As Nancy talked, she described the turmoil she is facing as her parents age. I was able to assure her that she is not alone in her feelings. She grew up with an abusive mother. The abuse was physical as well as emotional. Her father was gone much of the time, doing what most men of that generation did. He was making a living for his family and that was his role as he saw it. He wasn’t around much and didn’t “interfere” with the raising of the children.Read More

10 Celebrity Grandparents World Loves
Some, you just figure they’re grandparents. Others, you raise your eyebrows and say, "No, way. They’re not grandparents already... are they?" Yeah, celebrities are grandparents, too. And here are ten whom we love (in no particular order) because, well, they love to be grandparents. Read in Detail

Update 15th May -

Facing Loneliness As You Get Older
Human beings are social by nature,they thrive on meaningful social interactions with others. This is no different for older adults. Older adults, however, are often at risk for loneliness because of disruptions to their social networks over time.Read More

Parent Connection
When it comes to contentment we have a lot to learn from seniors. As I was growing up in a rural community, spending time with grandparents was a greater blessing than I then realized. Warm memories of quality times give me a sense that much of who I am today was influenced by these dear seniors.Read More

EMOTIONAL ISSUES AT RETIREMENT AND HOW TO TACKLE THE SAME
With one elderly in every twelve, India is poised to become the second largest hub of seniors in the world. Life expectancy has shot up from 23 at the turn of century to 65 years. Generations living before the advent of modern medicine were expected to live for around ten years after retirement but now they have around twenty years of healthy, active living after they retire. Read here an article by Gerontologist Amruta Lovekar

How to Live with an Elderly Person
Living with the older person has unique rewards and may have challenges for all concerned. Patience is needed as well as understanding. They may well prefer to be self sufficient, and will certainly dislike being patronised. But there are some occasions when they may not be able to care for themselves or need help to do so. By being yourself and listening to them, being honest about your own limitations (of time, skills and resources), you can live happily with an older person and they can live happily with you. Read More

Understanding our Senior Citizens
The aged in Mumbai face a predicament that is peculiar to an increasingly industrialised and materialistic society and to a city that does not have enough space for its citizens. There are few open spaces earmarked for the elderly and their space within their homes is continually dwindling. Even as age and poor health catch up with them, they are faced with diminishing finances, social isolation, loneliness, excessive free time and loss of family and friends. Read in detail

Hugs not Drugs required by Elderly
Three major areas of concern in people with dementia are loneliness, isolation and emptiness
– often the very same experiences behind attention seeking behaviour. There are no magic drugs to cure these ailments. We know from both experience and research that the best medicines for loneliness, isolation and emptiness are love, warmth and affection. These three come together when we give someone A BIG HUG. Read more

Generation gap
NOWADAYS THE older people and the younger population complain of generation gap and of breaking down the communication between these twos. But who is to blame? I think both go amiss now and then. Read More

Discovering and Preserving Your Life Story
When I was a child, my mother and I would take a train every summer from Boston to Vermont to spend August with my grandparents on their farm. Today the grandparents are gone, but I still recall these special memories of my childhood summers when I smell fresh cut hay or walk into a horse barn. Read more

Positive Parenting
Dear friend, think of all the crimes, tragedies, wars, we humans have suffered so far. Then ask why these happened? You will find that the single most important reason behind these tragedies is “Parenting Failure.” Read more

Taking Care of Yourself in Nursing Home
tSince no one is likely to offer you vacation from your work as a caregiver, you need to arrange for them. Perhaps you will need to ask others to provide some of the care in your absence. (Pay for help if you can and need to. Read more

I Have Learned
On a positive note I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. Read this wonderful Poem

Safety Plan for Family, see this nice Guide

Long-Term Care Planning
This is dedicated to adult children of aging parents, caregivers, seniors, and people who are tireless advocates of the elderly, and quality long-term care. There are those of you who no longer have a voice – I am proud to have served as your advocate and your protector in a time of need. For those of you who still have a voice, keep expressing, keep advocating, and keep reaching out and educating others. From you, I learn something new everyday. To my family, friends, and loved ones, thank you for your patience, your support, your encouragement, and your influence. Read more

Managing Stress Relationship
Relationship stress causes some of us to get angry and do or say things we regret. It leads others to shut down, withdraw, and refuse to participate. Either way, our inability to listen and speak intelligently in the face of relationship stress just makes things worse. In this article, you will learn how to stay calm and focused, and to communicate clearly and powerfully even in tense situations. Instead of feeling like a situation is out of your control, you will see how you can experience a sense of trust and creativity, and even a heightened awareness. Read here

What Young Love Should Know About Old Love
Romance ... in old age? Young people snicker at the thought. At best, they write it off as the childish sentimentality and clouded memory of doddering old age. But what if ... what if they are wrong? What if a couple married for so long really does experience romance that is strong, that stirs the blood? My friend, Frederica Mathewes-Green, described Ruth and Billy’s relationship as having “all the lamps still blazing.” Many engaged couples dream of “growing old together;” they just find old couples amusing and can’t picture them with their “lamps still blazing.” Read more

Why do Women Cry?
little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman," she told him. Read the Poem here

Living with Loss
If you have recently lost a loved one who was living in a nursing facility, you likely have many mixed feelings. Try to accept and acknowledge all your feelings, even if some seem contradictory. Read More

Coping with Grief and Loss:
Losing someone or something you love is very painful — and it’s something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their lives. Loss that goes unacknowledged or unattended can result in disability. But grief that is expressed and experienced has a potential for healing that eventually can strengthen and enrich life. There is no right or wrong way to grieve — but there are ways to make your grieving more complete and more positive. Read more

Dear son/daughter...
The day that you see me old, have patience and try to understand me …Read More

Resources on End-of-Life Care, Click Here

Helpful Caregiver Resources, Click Here

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