Community Programs
There are community service programs which offer visiting nurses, day activity programs, and respite centers. Assisted living programs will often take older adults for weekends or a few weeks. Call, write, or talk to the Area Agency on Aging in your community for information and referral.
Caregivers may benefit from personal counseling with a professional who understands aging issues. Care-giving may be an opportunity to heal any past wounds and the last chance to work on their relationships with their parent. Caregivers need good support from the medical community and may be able to use a neurologist or geriatrician to work with any problems that arise while caring for their elderly parent.
Small groups (church based) are helping folks with babysitting, food, respite, and errands. Church members often need to be educated on how to meet the needs of adult caregivers.
Suggested Reading
A Deepening Love Affair: The Gift of God in Later Life, by Jane Marie Thibault. Upper Room Books (1993). The author calls older adults to a new vocation, that of experiencing an ever-deepening "love affair" with God in this life.
Into the Shadows: A Journey of Faith and Love into Alzheimer's, by Robert F. DeHaan. FaithWalk Publishing (2003). In this chronicle, DeHaan combines his skills as a professional psychologist with his Christian faith to show that the love and grace of God are far greater than this terrible disease.
Caring for Elderly Parents by Ruth Whybrow. The Crossroad Publishing Company, Inc. (1996). This book offers practical advice for a wide range of dilemmas and helps adult children deal with their own feelings.
Growing Old in Christ, by Stanley Hauerwas et al. William B. Eerdman Publishing Co. (2003). This new book presents the first serious theological reflection we have on what it means to grow old, particularly in modern American society.
The 36 Hour Day, by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins. Warner Books; Revised edition (2001). Updated with the newest information on Alzheimer's Disease and dementia, this bestselling book has remained the "bible" for families who are giving care to afflicted loved ones.
The Long Good Night: My Father's Journey into Alzheimer's, by Daphne Simpkins. William B. Eerdman Publishing Co. (2003). Drawing on the experience of caring for her father, Simpkins offers personal testimony to the presence of God amid the daily struggles of life with a terminally ill loved one.
The Virtues of Aging, by Jimmy Carter. The Ballantine Publishing Group (1998). In this book, the former president and present activist (founder of The Carter Center and The Atlanta Project) explores the process of aging, including his own, and describes how one's later years might just prove to be the most thrilling of one's life.
Care-Giving Guides
A Caregiver's Survival Guide: How to Stay Healthy When Your Loved One Is Sick, by Kay Marshall Strom. InterVarsity Press (2000). One place to find understanding is a family support group made up of individuals who share the same concerns and burdens such as an Alzheimer’s support group, stroke club, or Parkinson’s support group. The group may have a professional, knowledgeable leader who educates members on what to expect, how to handle trouble spots, and who points out issues common to all caregivers. Groups allow people to share their ideas and emotions.
Reading about aging issues or the illness that affects your family member also can help fight feelings of unpreparedness.
Visit http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publications/caregiverguide.htm to download a caregiver's guide from the National Institute on Aging.
Online Resources
There are many useful sites online. One site you may find helpful is www.carepathways.com, developed by registered nurses. At this site there is a medical/drug dictionary, a needs assessment tool to point you to care options for your situation, checklists to evaluate care facilities, a place to search by state for long-term, adult day care, Alzheimer's care, and home-care options, and facility ratings to evaluate and compare options, and many useful articles.
Helpful Tests a Physician Can Administer
Folstein Mental Status Exam
Geriatric Behavior Rating Scale
Geriatric Depression Scale
Compiled by Laurie Snyman
