Caregiver burnout Coverage

More family members provide at-home caregiving as cost of professional care rises

Due to the rising cost of professional care, a growing number of people are becoming the primary caregiver for an aging parent or disabled family member -- often putting their own careers on hold as costs mount up. Advocates say those caregivers desperately need more sources of support.

Skip some of the holiday hassle for better memories, less burnout

I love the holidays and the magical experience for my kids. But for me, as a mom, the holidays are rough.

Nili Zaharony, WRAL contributor

Pouring from an empty cup? Alzheimer's Association provides support, respite for caregivers

Plenty of today's parents are stuck in the so-called sandwich generation, the group of people who are caring for young children and older relatives.

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Go Ask Mom editor

Introducing Supports for Dementia Care at Home

Introducing supports for dementia care often involves trial and error, as well as flexibility as needs change over time.

Liisa Ogburn

Moms are burned-out: What can we do to ease the burden?

More than 20 years ago, it was no surprise that women did the vast majority of child-rearing, as well as all other work around the house. I found that to be true in my dissertation research back in 1999 on gender roles of parents in households, regardless of whether mothers worked outside the home.

Opinion by John Duffy

How to approach the most daunting tasks

Desmond Tutu once famously said, "How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time." This applies when caring for a declining parent.

Liisa Ogburn

Riding the waves: Learning to let go

Learning to be present, whatever the weather, is one of the most important skills we can cultivate and bring to paddle-boarding, a pandemic, caregiving and life.

Liisa Ogburn

"I can't go on. I'll go on": Caregiving in the Age of Coronavirus

Spouses caring for loved ones at home is challenging under the best of circumstances. Under quarantine due to coronavirus, the challenges are compounded.

Liisa Ogburn

Dad was just hospitalized; Mom is home with Alzheimers

Our dad, who is 80 and takes care of mom with Alzheimers, was just admitted to the hospital with coronavirus. What should we do?

Liisa Ogburn

The foreign country of dementia

One out of five Americans is currently dealing with dementia in their immediate or extended family. Four out of five of these families fall apart from the stress.

Liisa Ogburn

Should you see a geriatrician? An Interview with Bryan Godfrey, MSW, UNC Geriatrics

In a University of Minnesota study, patients who had seen a geriatrics team were a quarter less likely to become disabled, half as likely to develop depression, and 40% less likely to require home health services. Does this mean you should change who you see for primary care?

Liisa Ogburn

Stomping out stigma associated with dementia

It is challenging enough caring for a spouse with dementia. When you add to that the hesitation to leave the home with your loved one, it amplifies the effects. We need community.

Liisa Ogburn

Taking a Different Route with Alzheimers

November is National Alzheimer's Month. This blog will be dedicated to topics that illuminate research, knowledge, strategies and stories related to Alzheimer's, both those who lives with it and those who care them.

Liisa Ogburn

Center for Volunteer Caregiving

The Center for Volunteer Caregiving provides volunteer services to improve the lives of seniors, caregivers, and adults with disabilities.

Liisa Ogburn

When is the right moment to move mom or dad to residential memory care?

I have not met a family who does not torture themselves over making this decision. There is no definitive answer. The decision to do so is made often when the alternative is no longer viable or safe.

Liisa Ogburn

A new day, a fresh start

It is easy (and human) to consider "going Thelma and Louise" and leaving a situation that feels beyond us. What tools can we use to help us respond differently?

Liisa Ogburn

Caregiving: Stepping back and seeing differently

When we are mired in caregiving, the situation can feel like we are drowning and there is no room to notice things that previously made us feel expansive and alive. What can happen, if instead, you try to notice those things again?

Liisa Ogburn

Know yourself: Wisdom practices that can help you weather the crises that come with aging

From the classics to Christianity, Buddhism to Zen, psychologists to poets to presidents, this simple truth is repeated throughout history and through the particular lens and words of individuals we have looked to for wisdom.

Liisa Ogburn

Care needs are always changing; Your responses should, too

Approach care needs like you are solving a puzzle. "Does this solution work? No? Okay, let's try this."

Liisa Ogburn

"Taking Mom to the Club": Introducing Adult Memory Care Day Programs

There is no parachute escape when trying to care for a loved one with memory issues, but there are options. Residential memory care is out of reach financially for many and many want to keep their loved one at home anyway as long as possible. Day programs are a great option.

Liisa Ogburn

Elderly Ladies Exercising In A Gym

It's stimulating and healthy--both for the loved one with memory issues annd their caregiver--to change the routine

Finding some space in the cracks

CS Lewis wrote, "One never meets just Cancer, or War, or Unhappiness (or Happiness). One only meets each hour or moment that comes. All manner of ups and downs. Many bad spots in our best times, many good ones in our worst."

Liisa Ogburn

Amanda Lamb: Cradle to caregiving in the sandwich years

It's understandable when someone misses a day of work when a child is sick or must leave the office to pick up a child at school with a fever. But the struggle of people caring for their parents is often invisible, only revealed to their inner circle.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Is someone dying? Stress builds up at end of life

People who work with the dying on a daily basis must develop the tools, personal awareness and insights to practice in a way that doesn't unleash the firehouse of adrenaline and cortisol that is so damaging to both our physical and mental health.

Liisa Ogburn

Play

Too often we rationalize that we have too much to do, that there is no time to play. In reality, we can often do what we do more efficiently and effectively (not to mention, maybe even with pleasure) if we allow ourselves time for play. This message is especially important for caregivers.

Liisa Ogburn