Tips
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If you're hiring an in-home health aid for your parents, think two, not one. That way, they can each have a part-time schedule and there will be backup if one calls in sick, goes on vacation, or quits.
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If older family members are claiming that every last item in their house has "sentimental value," making packing for a move impossible, suggest that you take a photo of each item and make a photo album they can take with them. Often it's the memory, not the actual object, that counts.
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The best time to visit a nursing home is at lunch, when the staff and residents interact the most. Sit down to eat and talk to the residents. This will tell you a great deal more than any guided tour of the home.
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When organizing for a move, label anything that's going to your parents' new home with its new location (living room, kitchen, bedroom). For the big stuff, map out for the movers exactly where it goes on a floor plan. You don't want your parents shoving heavy furniture around once they get to their ...
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To save precious space in your parents' itty-bitty assisted-living apartment, bring them only a season's worth of clothes at a time, leaving the rest labeled by season in your basement or in a storage unit.
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If you're working on making your parents' home more wheelchair-friendly, sit down in the chair yourself and try to navigate the house. Brush your teeth, put on some water to boil, hang up a coat -- all from the wheelchair. It will give you a very clear idea of which changes are most important to tac...
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For advice on how to help your elderly parents cope with life when driving is no longer an option, check out the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety's website, Getting Around. This website offers advice for family members and caregivers, as well as transportation resources around the country for senio...
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Some people with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia have trouble with depth perception and see depressions such as the bathtub as terrifying bottomless voids. Using a dark-colored bath mat can help; for the person with dementia, the dark color appears to be a distinct surface or bottom. Make sur...
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Research has shown that keeping fit can help older drivers maintain and even improve driving skills. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety's website, SeniorDrivers.org, suggests exercises that improve and maintain flexibility -- behind the wheel and elsewhere. Flexibility is important for driving be...
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Older drivers can assess and brush up on their driving skills to ease their minds -- and yours. The AARP regularly offers driving classes for seniors. These eight-hour classes, which cost just $10, help older drivers understand how aging affects driving ability and how they can compensate for these ...
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People with cancer often have problems swallowing, either as a direct result of the cancer or as a side effect of chemo or radiation. If your parent’s mouth or lips are dry or sore, using a full-size spoon can be irritating and uncomfortable. Instead, buy a baby or child-size spoon (the plastic-coat...
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Ginger is often recommended for combating nausea. But too much ginger can raise the risk of internal bleeding in chemotherapy patients with low platelet counts.
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Cancer patients battling nausea often find they start feeling full almost as soon as they start to eat. Your parent may have this experience because she felt nauseous before sitting down, or eating may trigger a bout of nausea even if she felt fine initially. Help prevent this by giving your parent ...
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If dealing with nausea is a daily battle for your parent with cancer, try this appetite-triggering trick: serve a small portion of food on a large plate. It may be an optical illusion, but this tactic can trick his mind into thinking he’s not eating much, which suppresses nausea. The opposite is als...
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Keep your parent safer in the bath by adding a color-tint tablet (available at toy stores) to the water. Colored water is easier to see when Alzheimer's disease affects depth perception.
