Sally Abrahms

Biography: I’m a long-time contributor to AARP with both a personal and professional interest in caregiving. For the last twelve years, I have cared for my father, then my mother and now my 93-year-old mother-in-law. I cover aging and boomers and have written for TIME, Newsweek, the New York Times, USA Today and the Huffington Post, among others.

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Sally Abrahms 'sPosts

Top 3 Caregiving Tips for Only-Children (They Work for Siblings, Too)

Posted on 03/4/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Your LifeWhen you hear about only-children who become only-child family caregivers, do you look at them with pity? No siblings to work together around Mom or Dad’s care. No brother or sister to bounce ideas off of or commiserate. Fewer helping hands financially, physically and emotionally — and who’s going to do the respite care? In some circumstances, it may actually be easier. That’s the word from social psychologist Susan Newman, author of The Case for the Only Child: Your Essential Guide. According …

You Need a Non-English Speaking Caregiver?

Posted on 02/27/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Your LifeAt a recent conference in California on encore careers (aka pursuing a new field, often with a social mission, later in life), I met a real estate agent turned health care entrepreneur who got me thinking. (She’s obviously gotten others thinking too, because she’s won recognition from Encore.org two years in a row.) It’s tough enough to be sick, frail and poor (a trifecta of misery), but imagine not being able to communicate with your professional caregiver because you don’t …

4 Effective Ways to Ask for Help — and Get It

Posted on 02/20/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & FamilyWhy is it so hard for family caregivers to ask friends and family for help? They may be in the throes of a crisis or bone-weary, but there’s something about that independent, I-can-do-it-myself American way that gets in our way. Caregivers, it’s OK — and wise — to let go. I can’t say it enough: You don’t, and shouldn’t, do all the caregiving. I recently heard California bioethicist Viki Kind, a former family caregiver and author of the Caregiver’s Path …

Can Caregivers Help Slow Dementia?

Posted on 02/13/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Personal Health | RelationshipsWouldn’t it be incredible if you, the family caregiver, could help affect the cognitive and functional progression of dementia in someone you love? A new study from Utah State University, published in January in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, suggests it might be possible. Researchers from Utah State and Johns Hopkins University, through National Institute on Aging funding, assessed 226 people with dementia and their caregivers twice a year for six years. Their goal was to measure the genetic and environmental factors that …

What’s Next After Caregiving? 5 Things to Consider

Posted on 01/30/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & FamilyYou won’t always be a family caregiver. At some point, you may choose to ramp up your work hours, change jobs or careers or do meaningful volunteering. You might be able to take the skills you’ve gained from caregiving. You’re probably thinking, “What am I qualified to do after being a caregiver?” You now know something about the health care system. Good! One of the fastest growing fields is health care. You might become a patient advocate or patient navigator, …

7 Flu-Fighting Strategies for Family Caregivers

Posted on 01/16/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Personal HealthMore influenza (aka flu) talk. If you are a family caregiver, you can reduce the chances that both you and your loved one will get the dreaded virus. It’s about vigilance and, yes, luck. But regardless, tissues and hand sanitizer need to be your best friends. Older people can have weakened immune systems, making them susceptible to flu and its complications. Nearly 90 percent of flu deaths and 60 percent of flu hospitalizations happen to those age 65-plus. And if you, …