Article excerpts for caregivers covering topics from caregiver stress and a self-administered depression assessment to divorcing elders and technology for aging at home.
‘Ever Forward’ — Leeza Gibbons Talks about Caregiving
Leeza talks about how her organization is responding to the burdens caregivers are feeling, and the lessons she learned from her late mom and grandmother who had Alzheimer’s. She talks openly about accepting who her mom became while living with Alzheimer’s. She also shares how she takes care of herself—eating nutritious meals, getting enough sleep, and managing her stress to delay or prevent the disease in her own life.
Do I have depression? (Self-test)
“Everyone goes through periods of life where they are not at their happiest, but how can we tell if… feelings are just normal sadness, as opposed to depression?” Dan Auerbach, Clinical Psychotherapist and Managing Director of Associated Counsellors & Psychologists in Australia, offers us this online tool “to quickly gain insight into… [if] you may have depression. The tool cannot diagnose depression but can predict the likelihood that you may be suffering from depression. The tool is based on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), an internationally validated depression measure.”
Burnout Advice from Experts on Caregiving
CareX, a provider of in-home, self-care, and medical products, reached out to experts on caregiving for advice on preventing and treating caregiver burnout as part of their 2021 Ultimate Guide to Caregiver Burnout. At the bottom of the page, The Caregiver’s Voice shares The Diamond Tip that goes beyond the Golden Rule for caregivers to alleviate those stressful times that lead to burnout.
Inside the Quest to Help Seniors Age at Home
[TCV Update 9/30/2022: Due to a breach of the FastCompany.com site, this URL is temporarily unavailable.] Existing and the future of tech options to assist us as we age in our homes. While these smart technologies are helpful and give long-distance caregivers peace of mind, they can be invasive. I am surprised by the number of couples with Alexa on in their bedrooms.” A recent review of Amazon Echo’s skills found that nearly a quarter of these apps requested sensitive user information without disclosing it.” Yet, there will come a time when we accept being monitored 24/7.
Click for a related piece on aging at home through homesharing.
Why are more people getting a “gray divorce?”
With Bill and Melinda Gates’ recent divorce announcement, there’s a heightened interest in older adults in the U.S. leaving their long-term marriages. There’s less of a taboo about divorce today than decades earlier. Men and women tend to give different reasons for leaving their marriage. Men want to replace with another, what they perceive was missing in their marriage. Women, on the other hand, choose to reinvent themselves and enjoy new experiences.
Thank you to American Society on Aging’s Generations SmartBrief for several of these articles and Ann Vanino for the aging-at-home piece.
