Category: Family Caregiving

healthcare documents
Jun 23 2020

What healthcare documents do you need at each life stage?

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

If your 19-year-old college student ended up in the hospital, would you be able to get the information you need about her condition from the doctors treating her? What if your parents were having trouble managing multiple doctor’s appointments? If your spouse or partner had a heart attack, would you be able to make medical... Read More

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summer safety
Jun 9 2020

Four tips for a safer summer

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

The combination of nice weather and cabin fever from stay -at-home rules to curb the spread of COVID-19 probably have you wanting to spend as much time outdoors and active as you can on sunny summer days. These tips can help you and your family have a safer, healthier summer. Protect yourself from the summer... Read More

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young children
May 12 2020

Tips for explaining the COVID-19 pandemic to young children

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

By now, even young children are well aware that there’s something unusual and alarming going on in the world around them. In addition to hearing parents and caregivers talk about the COVID-19 pandemic, they may also have seen disturbing images on the news or noticed that their caregivers are more anxious or sad than usual... Read More

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isolation
Apr 21 2020

Helping your older parents and relatives deal with self-isolation

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

Because older people are more at risk for complications from COVID-19, independent and assisted living communities around the U.S. have banned visitors and are encouraging residents to remain within the community and, in some cases, in their apartments as much as possible. Even older people who don’t live in a senior living community may be... Read More

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isolation
Apr 7 2020

How to prevent being a caregiver from having a negative effect on your health

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

Being a caregiver for an aging or ill parent, partner, or spouse can be an all-consuming job. And it’s a job more Americans are taking on as the population gets older and more people are diagnosed with chronic health problems and cognitive health issues such as Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. While focused... Read More

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parents
Mar 3 2020

How to encourage aging parents to accept help they need

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

The first signs are often subtle—missed appointments, unpaid bills, or a once immaculate home that now has an unmowed lawn and dirty dishes on the counter. It’s easy for adult children of aging parents to miss these first signs that their parents need help with tasks they once handled easily on their own. In fact,... Read More

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urgent care
Feb 4 2020

Primary care, urgent care, telemedicine, or the ER?

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

Not that many years ago, when you were sick or injured, you had two choices—make an appointment to see your doctor or go to the emergency room. But there are more ways to seek care now and it can sometimes be confusing knowing which provider is the most appropriate one. Of course, if you’re facing... Read More

older patients
Jan 28 2020

Why surgery may not be the right choice for some older patients

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

Although some surgeries are generally considered minor procedures for people in good health, they may pose greater to risk to older people whose condition is more frail. A recent study published in JAMA Surgery found that older patients who were frail were at a higher risk of dying after any type of surgery, whether it... Read More

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home safer
Jan 14 2020

Tips to help you make your home safer as you get older

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

A report from researchers at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University projects that by 2035, one in three households in the U.S. will be headed by someone who is 65 or older and many of these people plan to age in place, staying in their homes as they get older. While there... Read More

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dementia
Dec 17 2019

Navigating the holidays when a loved one has dementia

Family Caregiving  •  By Miles Varn, MD

For people who are the caregivers for a parent, spouse, partner, or other family member living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, the holidays can be complicated. First, there’s the stress of continuing to provide care during an especially busy time of year and striving to maintain consistency and calm for the person... Read More

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