I was privileged to speak yesterday to the Dallas Area Parkinson's Society (DAPS)  about how care partners can embrace wellness and joy.  For persons living with Parkinson's Disease and other neurological conditions, finding wellness and joy in everyday life can be challenging and elusive at best.  I know this first-hand, as my mother lived with Parkinson's Disease (PD).  Speaking from experience as her partner in this journey, my words of wisdom for embracing wellness and joy encompassed some simple steps.

What is a harder conversation topic with elderly parents - money or death?  If you guessed death, you get a gold star.  Why do we find it so very difficult to discuss the inevitable?  Surely we've all come to grips with the fact there is one thing certain about life and that is death.  We can embrace the ending by learning to embrace the life that we still have with our loved ones until the times comes when they are no longer with us.

Having just returned from Australia,  I'll be devoting several upcoming blogs to my research and fact finding with how Australia is advancing in aging and dementia care, as well as dementia and age friendly best practices.  I found their award wages for aged care workers to be one significant difference from the US and worthy of discussion.

Families caring for aging adults have and will continue to reach unprecedented numbers affecting every corner of our society.   We MUST address the complex needs of this population who are the foundation of long-term care nationwide, exceeding Medicaid long-term care spending in all states (National Alliance for Caregiving and Overcare, March 2009).  Jo Horne, author of Caregiving:  Helping an Aging Love One created the Caregiver's Bill of Rights. These are powerful and impactful words of hope and guidance for each and every person caring for a family member or friend:

Responding to challenging behavior for people living with dementia is often the greatest triggers of stress,  helplessness and frustration for professional and family caregivers.  Learning to be an effective dementia care detective incorporates knowledge of behavioral expression and having effective tools to respond, reassure and comfort.

Time is precious.  Staff is in short supply.  Family caregivers are stretched to the limit.  Just taking care of the basic needs  is hard enough, so five minutes a day seems - IMPOSSIBLE!

Call it awareness, attention, focus, presence, or vigilance. It's proving to be a powerful and effective practice in coping with stress.  Caregiving can easily top the charts on stress, especially for caregivers of elders with chronic illness and dementia.  Mindfulness for caregivers means learning to live in the moment, accept the reality of a situation, and filter out distractions.