sally abrahms

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, …

Who Will Be Your Caregiver? I Know Who Won’t Be Mine

Posted on 01/3/2013 by Sally Abrahms | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Your LifeI usually write about other people, but indulge me a minute. I have been a long-distance family caregiver for 12 years straight (father, mother, mother-in-law) and in the future, I will likely need and want a family caregiver myself. My three kids are spread out across the country (Florida, California, New York), but I thought not for long. For the last year, my son and his wife have said they planned to move to Boston from the West Coast. (They …