|
|
Creating a Family Tree
My mother is your grandmother and my sister is your aunt....is this how you teach your kids about your family? How each of us relates to each other and who is a mother to whom? Why not use a family tree to elaborate on how each of us is connected to...
Got To, Get To – Change The Way Your Family Thinks
I recently heard a story that has literally changed the way that I, and my family, think about life. The story is as follows: There was once a high-powered woman in her 30s who ran her own company and was massively successful in business. Yet every...
Kids: Channeling Mania Towards Productivity
More and more kids these days are diagnosed ADD, ADHD, or Bipolar. There are biological reasons for this, and there are environmental elements which can soothe or aggravate the symptoms. It becomes increasingly easy to “react” to each...
Puppy Development
Puppy development and growth is very exciting. After a puppy gets over its fear of its new surroundings, it will become very curious. People sometimes leave their puppy for a few minutes, come back and can't find it anywhere. If you can't find...
The Ten Things That Successful Parents Do
1. They are leaders as well as parents. They don’t rely on the schools, the government, television, the movies or music to teach their children values and the difference between right and wrong. They do it themselves. 2. They have a vision for...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Long Distance Caregiving for a Loved One is Particularly Difficult
Use this article freely in print or electronic media, but please use author’s byline and let me know where and how it is used.
Long Distance Caregiving for a Loved One is Particularly Difficult
The phone rang at 5 a.m. John was sure it couldn’t be good news at that hour. He was right. Mom’s neighbors were calling him from 850 miles away in Texas to say that she was out watering her roses an hour ago on a cold, early spring morning. John knew that she had been failing. She wasn’t the same Mom he could always count to stand by him. Now he needed to stand by her. But how?
Families are now living further apart from each other. This is difficult because your elders require ever-increasing assistance, yet the distance between you makes it difficult to perform the tasks of a primary caregiver. But most elders are reluctant to leave their home of many years to move to the town in which their adult children live. This reluctance can become a stressful point of contention between adult children and their parent(s).
Often, it is a financial issue. In-home care and assisted living can be much more expensive in New York or California than in the center of the country. Resources simply may not stretch as far to allow one to live as one chooses. Regardless of the reasons, many adult children find themselves far away and concerned that parents are not doing as well as they may insist in those telephone visits. There are some ways to help manage long distance caregiving. +Try to visit as soon as possible to assess the situation. Take notes of possible problem areas and gather information about senior resources in their area. +Make sure legal and financial affairs are in place. Keep copies of important papers and telephone numbers of contacts. +Plan ahead to have back up providers to care for your own family in case you
need to make an unexpected visit to your relative. It is also a good idea to bank some vacation or sick days from work for these visits as well. +Seek the assistance of a Professional Care Manager specializing in assessing and monitoring the needs of the elderly. +Consider all the options before moving your relative, but begin talking with them about this possibility. You could be surprised to learn they are willing to move closer to you, but they never mentioned this for fear of burdening you with their problems. +Retain a copy of the Yellow Pages that serves your parent's community. The next time your parent calls and you need to locate resources, you won't need to search out numbers or call information long-distance.
When you live hundreds of miles away from an aging loved one, there is a constant level of anxiety over his or her welfare. Every family must make their own decisions about how to handle the situation. Dr. Mary Pipher, in her book Another Country, Navigating the Emotional Terrain of our Elders makes a convincing argument for having the aging parent(s) move near the adult child who will, or currently handles their financial or care decisions. It is an option that should be given much consideration. Be sure to have a contact person who lives close to the parent periodically checking on their health and cognitive status. Better yet, also have someone who can act upon your and her or his behalf until you can.
Linda LaPointe, MRA, has helped hundreds of families as an ElderLife Matters consultant and national educator. Find free informational articles, exercises, links, audio interviews and products to help families experiencing elder issues at her website http://www.SOSpueblo.com
lapointell@yahoo.com
|
|
|
|
|
Family.org |
Offers practical help for marriage and child-rearing. Recent magazine articles, letters from Dr. James Dobson, news, and RealAudio broadcasts. |
www.family.org |
  |
FamilyFun: Fun stuff for Kids, Parents - and More Family Fun |
Family Fun is your online source for arts and crafts, recipes, and parties for every holiday, plus hundreds of ideas for kid crafts, birthday cakes, ... |
familyfun.go.com |
  |
Family.ca |
Take polls, rant and rave on Canada's family broadcaster site. Full of shockwave games, animation and information about the shows they carry. |
www.family.ca |
  |
Family.com - closed beta |
Features a to do list, calendar, and recommended sites for health, shopping, and recipes. |
family.go.com |
  |
FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records |
Search for family ancestors. Billions of free family tree, family history, ancestry, genealogy and census records. |
www.familysearch.org |
  |
Family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
A family consists of a domestic group of people (or a number of domestic groups), ... Members of the nuclear family use descriptive kinship terms: ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Family (biology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
The concept of rank at that time was still in statu nascendi, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera, ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Family Guy |
The official Family Guy website with everything you ever wanted to know about the show and more. |
www.familyguy.com |
  |
Parenting advice, child development and family reference at ... |
FamilyEducation.com provides parents with educational printables, games, activities, parenting ideas, tips, family advice, and information on learning ... |
www.familyeducation.com |
  |
Family Life Today |
FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, provides practical, biblical tools to strengthen marriage and family relationships, including the ... |
www.familylife.com |
  |
WorldVillage - A Family Friendly Portal for Families, Kids, Adults ... |
WorldVillage is for families, kids, adults, parents and teachers. Features include coupon codes, online games, downloads, internet monitoring and internet ... |
www.worldvillage.com |
  |
Open Directory - Home: Family |
Family Check-up - Provides assessment activities and access to educational materials related to family health with respect to family life, finances, ... |
dmoz.org |
  |
Free Family Ecards, Family Greeting Cards, Family Greetings, Cards ... |
Express your appreciation to your family/ loved ones for all that they have ... Reach out to your friend/ family/ loved one and let them know how much you ... |
cards.123greetings.com |
  |
kids and family news articles - arizona education - arizona family ... |
Family News Articles - azcentral.com provides articles and reports on Arizona education and Arizona family events. |
www.azcentral.com |
  |
Google Directory - Home > Family |
Many articles dealing with a wide range of topics from single parenting, family life, child development and stress management. ... |
www.google.com |
  |
Family Research Council: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 |
Christian organization promoting the traditional family unit and the Judeo-Christian value system upon which it is built. Provides links, commentary, news, ... |
www.frc.org |
  |
Sesame Workshop - Home Page |
The non-profit educational organization behind the show and related educational outreach. |
www.sesameworkshop.org |
  |
National Sex Offender Registry |
Free national US search for registered sex offenders. Map registered sex offenders to see who lives in your area. |
www.familywatchdog.us |
  |
FHI Family Health International |
Provides the highest quality research, education and services in family planning, STDs/HIV and family health to improve the health and well-being of ... |
www.fhi.org |
  |
National Family Caregivers Association |
Caregiving advocacy organization with tips and statistics on caregiving in America. |
www.nfcacares.org |
  |
|