Group items tagged

Title: Avoiding Caregiver Burnout Author: Donna Cardillo, RN, MA Date Published: 4/22/11 Why relevant and Summary: This article gives plenty of valuable easy to process information and tips on how to avoid caregiver burnout. How this influenced my thinking: This information strengthened my awareness about how important it is for  a caregiver to take care of themselves. Credibility of source: this information supported previous information and sources I was already familiar with.

Title:Why Being a Caregiver is hard on Your Health Author: Sharon O'Brien Date Published: n.d. Why Relevant and Summary: This article discusses a study that was done show a relationship with stress and caregiving. In particular, one the study proved that caregivers reported having lower overall health ratings due to stress. How This Influenced My Thinking: After reading the article I never realized How much stress caregivers go through taking care of someone else. In contrast, I have always thought caregiver had a fairly easy job besides the minor lifting of the patient and cleaning them. Credibility of Source: The author is a Therapist

Title: Successful Aging: Caregivers Handbook Author: Robert Torres Date Published: 1990 Why Relevant and Summary: Shows techniques in succesffully being a caregiver. Also provides tips for those who are just beginning How this influenced my thinking: This handbook provides a lot of useful information for those who are just beginning as caregivers Credibility: credible because published

Title: Caregiver Lives Rerouted Yet Enriched By Aging Parents Author: Sarah LeTrent Date Published: December 11, 2012 Why Relevant and Summary: Provides actual accounts of experiences with caregiving for older relatives/parents. Identifies all the hassles that can come with taking on the responsibility but also recognizes all the rewards and the enriching, meaningful experience it can be. How This Influenced My Thinking: It forced me to look at the situation--caregiving for an elderly parent/parents-- from both perspectives. I was able to understand how it affects both the children and the parents and able to understand the pros and cons. Credibility of Source: CNN News-- pretty credible.

Title: Caregiving Support & Help: Tips for Making Family Caregiving Easier Date: last update April 2013 Author: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. Why relevant and summary: This was a very interesting article that outlined some of the challenges of being a caregiver and how to handle the situation. Some of the tips where practical like, exercise, eat healthy or get enough sleep to more specific which had to do with how to handle the emotional burden of the situation. How has this influenced my thinking: This article was very interesting for me, because I currently support my parents, even though they are in good health and able to take care of themselves, still some of the issues outline in the article apply to my situation as well. Source credibility: The article was publish on a government website and the authors are medical professionals.

Title: Becoming 'parent of your parent' an emotionally wrenching process Author: Mindy Fetterman, USA TODAY Date Published: February 1, 2008 Why Relevant and Summary: This article is relevant to the topic of caring for an elderly parent as the experiences that one may have when caring for an elderly parent are discussed throughout this article. This article has a real life perspective of people going through the motions of caring for and making decisions for their elderly parents. Times of caring for the parents were described in depth from the perspective of the adult caregiver. This article gives a great outlook on the emotional roller coaster that the adult caregiver goes on and how this affects her deeply. How This Influenced My Thinking: This article made me really think about how difficult it would be to care for an elderly adult that is affected by dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Having to make the decision to put your parent in a home that offers better care than you can must be a devastating heart wrenching decision that must be made . Credibility of Source: no

Title: Using Toys to Support Infant-Toddler Learning and Development Author: Gabriel Guyton Date Published: September 2011 Why Relevant and Summary: This article discusses how caregivers can select and even make (using random household materials) age appropriate toys to support and enhance cognitive development. The author encourages finding toys that support development across all domains - cognitive development, fine motor, gross motor, language, etc. How this influenced my thinking: When I first sat down to right the short critical thinking assignment on cognition and toys, it did not even occur to me to write about home-made toys such as a simple first puzzle made out of a muffin tin and some small objects, yet in reality, things found around the house make some of the best toys - ones that really engage babies and toddlers and are truly beneficial to child development. Credibility of source: This article is from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), thus seems highly credible.

Title: Using Toys to Support Infant-Toddler Learning and Development Author:Gabriel Guyton Date Published: September 2011 Why Relevant and Summary: This article shares about toys useful to child development, along with presenting a graph showing what toys are most appropriate and beneficial at each age. How This Influenced My Thinking: This article gave clear and concise information as to what development is occurring and at what age. Credibility of Source: 7- Published by the credible agency, NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children)

Title: ADHD Overview Author: Jacob Silverman Date Published: No date Why relevant and summary: This is a comprehensive overview of ADHD, the causes, symptoms, diagnoses, treatments and related disorders. There are also a number of other highly relevant articles that are easily accessible on this site. How this influenced my thinking: There is a lot of information about raising a child with ADHD. I've never had experience with this in regards to my own children, but as a former teacher I have been aware of the 'basics' for many years. There is so much to learn and understand on this topic, especially so that caregivers can be more understanding of individualized needs and be less likely to judge or treat children with ADHD differently. Credibility of source: This is a Discovery Health article. It may not be highly credible in it's own right, but likely pulled it's information from scholarly/medical/research based resources.

Title: Advance Medical Directives Author: S. Nabili Date Published: 5.10.11 Summary and Why Relenent: This article covers power of attorney, living wills, and healthcare proxies. It expalins what all of these documents are for. How This Influenced My Thinking: It was very helpful to me as I am going through this with my father. I am going to call him tomorrow so we can get these documents in order. Credibility of Source: Good. Written by a MD

Title: Advance Medical Directives (Living Will, Power of Attorney, and Health-Care Proxy) Author: Siamak Nabili Date Published: October 5, 2011 Why Relevant and Summary: Explains what advance directives are such durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy, and living will and also why they are important How This Influenced My Thinking: I now know what durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy and a living will is Credibility of Source: Seems pretty credible, author is a MD

Title: Caring for your parents. Author: No Author Date Published: 2009 Why Relevant and Summary: Good video that deals with parents starting to lose some of their ability to care for themselves and how they deal with these issues. How This Influenced My Thinking: made me think about different ways to approach issues like these Credibility of Source: PBS documentary

Title: 15 Reasons to Use In-Home Elderly Care for a Loved One | Tender Hearts at Home Senior Care Author: no author Date: 2013 Why Relevant and Summary: this article discusses why some elderly people would rather have in home care and the benefits of opting for in home care. A few of the benefits that many agreed on were that there was better one on one care and that they were able to become closer to their families. How this Influenced my Thinking: This was a very insightful article on why most elder people would rather be cared for in home versus in a facility. Credibility: This website conducted research on this topic.

Title: 15 Reasons to Use In-Home Elderly Care for a Loved One | Tender Hearts at Home Senior Care Author: no author Date: 2013 Why Relevant and Summary: this article discusses why some elderly people want to have in home care and what are the benefits of opting for in home care. How this Influenced my Thinking: I would rather just take care of my parents if I had too Credibility: Good

Title:Pros and Cons of Assisted Living Communitites Author: Katrina Wells Date Published: May 30, 2009 Why Relevant and Summary: This gives pros and cons of assisted living communities/facilities from perspectives of the adult who needs care. How This Influenced my thinking: Backed up what i already believed to be true of assisted living communities, as my granparent lived in a senior community. Credibility: "Katrena Wells is a RN in NC with 17 1/2 years of experience in oncology, an educator since 1995, and has taught exercise classes since 1999"

Title: Pros and Cons of Living with Your Elderly Parent Author: Wright, J Date:2009 Summary and why relevant: It give a nice list of what to expect when taking care of your elderly parent, the good and the bad. How this influenced my thinking: I have never really put alot of thought into what i would do when my parents got older and now i can understand better the pros and cons of putting them in a nursing home or caring for them myself. Credibility: Seems credible

Title: More elderly parents living with adult children Author: Ryan Malone Date Published: 2008 Why Relevant and Summary: This is an article about a particular family where the elderly parent moves in with her daughter. It tells some of the struggles of associated with careing for your parent who lives with you as well as gives some statictics about elderly living with their children How This Influenced My Thinking: I didn't realize how common it was for elderly parents to live with their children. I thought the trend would have decreased over the years but it has actually increased Credibility of Source: It is an article from MSNBC

Title: The Sandwich Generation: Rising Financial Burdens for Middle-Aged Americans Authors: Kim Parker and Eileen Patten Date: January 30, 2013 Summary and Why Relevant: Rising Financial Burdens for Middle-Aged Americans Overview: With an aging population and a generation of young adults struggling to achieve financial independence, the burdens and responsibilities of middle-aged Americans are increasing. How This Influenced My Thinking: Lots of great statistics about how the sandwich generation is affected by economics Credibility of Source: Really credible - well written and sourced