When Your Aging Parent Needs Help: A Geriatrician's Step-By-Step Guide to Memory Loss, Resistance, Safety Worries, and More

It's scary and stressful when it happens . . . noticing changes in your parent and becoming increasingly worried about their health and safety. Maybe it's Mom leaving the stove on, Dad getting lost on his way home, or unpaid bills that trigger this realization. Or perhaps there have been falls or emergency room visits. Whatever it is, you know something's wrong. You wonder about a diagnosis. And you want your aging parent to accept help, or perhaps move. Helping an older parent can be gratifying. But it's especially hard if they're blowing off your concerns, refusing to make changes, or otherwise resisting your efforts. You want them to listen, but they get upset or withdraw when you try to talk about this. What to do? You don't have to remain stuck in conflict with your parent (or other family members). You don't have to keep getting the runaround from doctors or feel stumped about next steps. Instead, use an expert's clear plan on how to help your aging parent. Full of actionable advice and insider tips, When Your Aging Parent Needs Help provides practical and flexible steps that move concerned families toward effective elder care action, while respecting a parent's dignity and autonomy.

About the Author :
Paula Spencer Scott is an award-winning writer on health and aging and the author of more than a dozen books, including Surviving Alzheimer's: Practical Tips and Soul-Saving Wisdom for Caregivers and collaborations with doctors at Harvard, UCLA, and Duke. A journalist fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, her work appears in Parade, PBS Next Avenue, AARP, and other national media. She also gives talks on caregiver support and brain health. She lives in Colorado. Leslie Kernisan, MD, MPH, is a practicing geriatrician and the founder of the popular aging health website and podcast Better Health While Aging, which she created to help families and older adults learn better ways to manage common aging health challenges. "Dr. K" has always had a special interest in supporting families who are helping aging relatives. She believes that it shouldn't be so hard for older adults and their families to access what geriatricians know about improving the health and wellbeing of aging adults. Dr. K currently offers a Helping Older Parents Course and other online programs to provide expert guidance to people caring for aging parents. She's also a clinical instructor at the University of California, San Francisco, Division of Geriatrics. Previously, the site medical director of the Over 60 Health Clinic in Berkeley, she now maintains a small consultative practice in the Bay Area. She trained in internal medicine and geriatrics at UCSF and is a proud graduate of Princeton University and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. She lives in San Francisco. Kim Niemi has appeared on numerous stages in the Boston area as an actor and singer/songwriter, including Theater Lobby in the North End, Chevalier Theatre, Club Cafe, Club Passim, The Lizard Lounge, and The Burren. She sang lead vocals for popular New England country bands DiggerDawg and STAMPEDE (as Kim Davidson), opening for national acts like Charlie Daniels and Rodney Atkins. Kim is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA. Her voice has been described as soothing, soulful, and powerful.