I love you, Grandma, so I tell you lies

By Teresa Strasser
Published on October 29, 2008

The emotional landmines of family caregiving

Published on June 19, 2008

A painful situation for the primary caregiver occurs when another close relative does little or nothing to help, but they are adored and praised by the senior anyway.

The emotional landmines of family caregiving

Published on June 19, 2008

A painful situation for the primary caregiver occurs when another close relative does little or nothing to help, but they are adored and praised by the senior anyway.

Films: Dementia ordeal inspires comic tale of ‘The Savages’

By Pat Sierchio
Published on November 29, 2007

Tamara Jenkins knows firsthand what an overwhelming task it is to care for a parent suffering from dementia. While she was in her mid-30s, she had to help care for both her father and grandmother during their final days in a nursing home. She also knows that no matter how grave a situation might be, there are always sparks of humor surrounding it. So it's no surprise that her new film, "The Savages," addresses that very subject and does so with a healthy dose of comic perspective.

Center’s Studies Aid Care for Frail Elderly

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on March 9, 2006

Weight-loss prevention is one of the principal areas of investigation at the Borun Center, a joint venture between JHA and UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. Housed on the JHA campus in Reseda, the center was established in 1989 to identify and test nonmedical measures that could improve daily care and quality of life for nursing home residents.

A Big Impression

By Wildman Weiner
Published on January 5, 2006

My senior students suffer from short-term memory loss, a condition less severe than Alzheimer's and dementia but nonetheless frightening. They can recall exact moments from decades past, but in the present, from one moment to the next, many don't remember who or where they are. Sort of like elected officials.

Problems Abound in Pampering Parents

By Ellie Kahn
Published on February 3, 2005

My mother and father are both in diapers. I wasn't at all prepared for this possibility. Dealing with the visual and olfactory aspect of my son's end products when he was a baby was an expected part of being a mom, but it's a completely different matter when it's my parents wearing the Pampers.

Elder Rage: What I Know Now

By Jacqueline Marcell
Published on August 5, 2004

For 11 years. I begged my obstinate elderly father to allow a caregiver to help him with my ailing mother, but he adamantly insisted on taking care of her himself. Every caregiver I hired to help him said, "Jacqueline, I just can't work with your father -- his temper is impossible to handle. I don't think you'll be able to get him to accept help until he's on his knees himself."

Mom and Dementia

By Ellie Kahn
Published on June 24, 2004

I reminded Mom of her move to Los Angeles three years ago, and her life at a San Fernando Valley board and care.

She sighed and said, "Ellie, I'm losing my marbles."

Total Recall

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on January 22, 2004

Twice in the past couple of days, I've been in conversation and found myself grasping for a word. On both occasions, my 4-year-old supplied the word before I could come up with it. And, of course, there are the times that I walk into a room only to realize that I have no idea what I wanted to do once I got there. Are these natural lapses or early signs of something more sinister?

"We are all one day closer to Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Gary Small says forebodingly in his book "The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young" (Hyperion, 2003). "Alzheimer's and dementia begin forming in our brains much earlier than anyone previously imagined, even in our 20s."

Failing Minds Fall Prey to Holocaust

By Jane Ulman
Published on April 24, 2003

"Why did you come? Go, go before it's too late," Laja Szydlowski warned her daughter, Hanna. She then whispered, "They're killing people here. You don't understand."

The Search for an Alzheimer’s Cure

By Charlotte Hildebrand
Published on August 2, 2001

For most people in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease, the simplest task, like writing a check, becomes a Herculean undertaking.

My Brother’s Keeper

By Yehuda Lev
Published on May 27, 1999

My brother, who at 70 is younger than me by two years, has a world-class collection of the mysteries of Agatha Christie and a complete set of the novels of Anthony Trollope. They are being joined, gradually, by the Greek historians and Galsworthy's Forsythe Saga.