Paula Spencer Scott, Senior Health Writer


Paula Spencer Scott is the author of Surviving Alzheimer's: Practical Tips and Soul-Saving Wisdom for Caregivers and much of the Alzheimer's and caregiving content on Caring.com.

Scott has specialized in women's life-stage concerns (baby care, family care, self-care, elder care) from her first job as an editor at 50 Plus Magazine through stints as a Woman's Day columnist and coauthor of health books with doctors at Harvard, UCLA, Duke, and Arizona State. She's a 2011 Met Life Foundation Journalists in Aging fellow, awarded by the Gerontological Society of America and New American Media, and completed a National Press Foundation's Alzheimer's Disease 2012 fellowship.

In the late 2000s, she lost both her parents, in their 80s, to cancer; her father also had dementia and stroke. "In short order during that phase," she says, "I experienced just about everything that's on this site, from dealing with their illnesses to selling the family home and moving Dad, plus advance directives, end-of-life planning, hospice, death -- and stress."

Follow her on Twitter @PSpencerScott.


Recently Published on Caring.com

How to Solve Hygiene Problems Common to People With Dementia — Apr 02, 2013
Odd or frustrating behaviors around clean clothes, bathing, oral care, hairstyling, and shaving seldom come "out of nowhere." Usually there's a trigger, and ways to work ar...
The Dangers of Loneliness — Apr 02, 2013
Good for you if you exercise, watch your weight, and don't smoke -- but if you live in lonely solitude, your health may suffer anyway. Social isolation is increasingly seen...
Caregiver Fatigue: 10 Signs of Caring Too Much — Mar 18, 2013
Compassion fatigue -- a.k.a. caregiver burnout -- is what happens when a well-intentioned caregiver crosses a hard-to-see line from One-Who-Helps to One-Who-Needs-Help. An...
Alzheimer's Caregiving Essentials — Mar 06, 2013
Most people simply dive in to the responsibility of caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease and then take it one day at a time. Fair enough. But before you find yoursel...
How to Say Good-bye When Someone You Love Is Dying — Feb 21, 2013
Saying good-bye to a dying relative or friend -- what to talk about, when, and how -- doesn't come naturally to most adults. The irony: All such conversations ask...
Are You Heading for Caregiver Burnout? — Feb 19, 2013
Caregiving can be incredibly rewarding -- but it's also hard work, physically and emotionally. If you don't take enough self-care to replenish yourself, then caregiver stre...
Home Care Benefits Can Aid Veterans in Need — Feb 13, 2013
Caring for a veteran? The VA Aid and Attendance benefit program pays for home care services for vets who can no longer manage the activities of daily living on their own --...
Toileting Privacy — Feb 11, 2013
There's little private about helping someone with toileting. And yet you can boost your loved one's privacy in simple but important ways. The most basic: Close the bathroo...
Alzheimer's Caregivers — Feb 07, 2013
The "do's": Positive steps you can take while caring for an Alzheimer's patient Being responsible for the care of someone with Alzheimer's disease may be one of the tou...
Medications Used to Treat Alzheimer's — Feb 07, 2013
Early-stage Alzheimer's medications Though Alzheimer's is a disease without a cure, several drug treatments have been approved by the FDA to treat its effects. The drugs c...