The Sandwich Generation's Guide to Eldercare

by Danielle Dresden MEd, CRC, Phillip D. Rumrill Jr. PhD, CRC, Kimberly Wickert MRC, CRC

Overview

Gold Winner, 2013 Foreword Reviews IndieFab Book of the Year Awards, Family&Relationships Category

A practical, accessible, and comprehensive guide to the legal, financial, emotional and daily living challenges of caring for aging parents while raising your own family.

If you are caring for an elderly loved one while raising a child, you may feel overwhelmed and unprepared. The Sandwich Generationís Guide to Eldercare, written by three experts with extensive professional and personal experience with eldercare, provides the information and resources you need to make important decisions, balance your responsibilities, and ensure your elders well-being as well as your own.

It includes how to:

• Create a good eldercare plan and the key financial, healthcare, and legal documents you should have executed
• Choose the right level of care and ease the transition, including how to avoid the most common mistakes people make in this process
• Find the best ways to help elderly loved ones maintain their independence and dignity
• Navigate the maze of government agencies and benefits
• Involve other family members while minimizing tension or conflict
• Prevent caregiver burnout and deal with the strain on family life, children, and relationships

With useful checklists, worksheets, step-by-step action plans, lists of questions to ask, and a robust resources section, you'll have everything you need to care for your family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617051425
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	09/25/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	246
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Danielle Dresden, CRC is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor who has been working with people with disabilities and their families for 14 years.

Phillip D. Rumrill, Jr., PhD, CRC, is professor and coordinator, Rehabilitation Counseling Program, and director, Center for Disability Studies, Kent State University, Ohio.

Kimberly Wickert, CRC has a Master's Degree in rehabilitation counseling from Wright State University and has worked with individuals in the field of rehabilitation for more than 20 years.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: You Are Not Alone: The Graying of America and the Role of the Sandwich Generation in Providing Eldercare
Chapter 2: Is it Time?: Determining When Itís Time to Take Over the Care of Your Loved One
Chapter 3: Making a Plan: Practical, Legal, Healthcare, and Financial Essentials
Chapter 4: Balancing Your Loved Oneís Wishes with Practical Reality: In-Home Care, Assisted Living or Skilled Nursing Facility, or Hospice Care
Chapter 5: Stress, Guilt, Anger, Burnout and More: Dealing with the Impact of Eldercare on the Caregiver and the Entire Family
Chapter 6: Alzheimerís Disease, Dementia and Sundownerís Syndrome
Chapter 7: Advocating for Your Loved One: An Eldercare Bill of Rights
Chapter 8: Pulling it All Together: 10 Essential Strategies for Caregivers
Glossary
Eldercare Experts: Who they are, what they do, how to find them
Eldercare Resources A - Z
Appendix A: Eldercare Safety Checklist
Appendix B: A Caregiverís Kit In Case of Emergency
Index

Editorial Reviews

10/15/2013
As baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—enjoy longer life expectancies, their children find themselves becoming caregivers and advocates for both their parents and their children, hence the moniker "sandwich generation." Written by a team of rehabilitation counselors and other health field professionals who also have personal experience with eldercare, this very concise, straightforward, thorough, and well-written guide and tool kit will help those affected to navigate the many legal, practical, and emotional layers of the processes involved. Key chapter topics include "You Are Not Alone" and information on recognizing symptoms, making plans, avoiding burnout, and honing advocacy skills. Useful, preformulated lists include questions to ask when selecting a potential elder law attorney or a facility such as a hospital or nursing home, a Caregiver's Bill of Rights (e.g., "I have the right: to take better care of myself"), how to answer children's questions about their grandparent, and how to advocate for a parent in the hospital. Each chapter offers a detailed "Personal Story" section illustrating the pertinent points in the chapter. VERDICT A very neat package of practical and empowering material specifically written for members of the sandwich generation, intended for professionals and those going through the process with their families.—Elizabeth J. Eastwood, Los Alamos Cty. Lib. Syst., NM

Library Journal