amy goyer

Three Ways Caregivers Can Use Music Therapeutically

Posted on 03/15/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Relationships | Your LifeAs a music therapist, I worked for many years with older adults and children with special needs using music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals. I used music to encourage expression and social interaction, physical activity and movement, brain stimulation, healing, verbal expression and communication, expression of emotions, reminiscence and even achieve simple eye contact. I created a hand-chime choir with my adult day services center participants who traveled around performing for their peers at other centers. One of …

The Organized Caregiver: Documents and Easily Accessible Tech Tools

Posted on 02/22/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Relationships | Technology  Being organized is the key to success for all caregivers, but it can definitely be a challenge to gather and keep track of all the important documents and information you’ll need. I suggest you gather your loved one’s information in one secure place for easy access. Here are the documents I’ve found to be critical as I am caregiving for my parents, and (above) my Taking Care with Amy Goyer video on cool tech tools to help you stay organized and …

We’re Back With AARPLive!

Posted on 02/18/2013 by | AARP Blog Author | Comments

Home & Family | Money & Savings | Your LifeIt’s a new year and a brand new season of AARP LiVE on RFD-TV. Don’t miss the next edition coming up Thursday, February 21, at 9 p.m. CT, 10 p.m. ET, and learn how you can protect yourself from scammers, con artists and identity theft. Get caregiving tips from our family expert,  Amy Goyer. And, find out what AARP has been up to in your community. Joining RFD-TV host Mark Oppold on-set are AARP State Directors Sarah Jennings from South Dakota and Sean Voskuhl from Oklahoma.Washington State Director …

Adventures in Caregiving: Taking Mom and Dad to the Movies

Posted on 02/5/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsDue to Mom and Dad’s health issues, it’s been a very long time since I’ve attempted taking them to a movie. Nevertheless, fortified by Danielle, our live-in caregiver, and my boyfriend, Bill, I recently decided to try taking them to see, “Lincoln.” Here’s how we pulled it off … and the emotional roller coaster that ensued for me. We chose an early Tuesday evening when there wouldn’t be crowds (matinees are great too.) We arrived at the movie theater late, …

More Americans Support Aging Parents — And Grown Kids

Posted on 01/30/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Money & Savings | RelationshipsFor many years, we’ve thought of the “sandwich generation” as people who are taking care of older parents while raising young children of their own. But that seems to be changing. Many people today are taking care of their moms and dads— and, increasingly, their grown kids who still need financial help. So even though their nests are empty, their wallets are quickly emptying too. According to a new Pew Research Center report released today: Nearly half (47%) of adults age 40-59 have a parent 65 or …

A Caregiver’s Tough Lessons Learned

Posted on 01/19/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsA friend recently told me she didn’t understand how I survived 2012. It was a rough year, to say the least, for our family. In retrospect, I know that I do what each of the other 42 million caregivers across this nation do — we just keep going — what else are we to do? The good news is that along with the challenges, there are also many triumphs, blessings and lessons learned. As I look back at the past …