Synopses & Reviews
Practical and compassionate advice on how to provide appropriate care for our aging parents without ruining our lives.
In this wise and beautifully written book, Vivian Greenberg explains how to understand and accept the limits of what we can do for our parents. With insight and skill, she offers valuable information on
- how to recognize unrealistic expectations
- how to get our siblings to share responsibilities
- how to cope with difficult parents
This updated and revised edition of Respecting Your Limits When Caring For Aging Parents also includes advice on what role reversal really means as our parents grow older; why our own family should come first and what to do about loyalty conflicts; and how to deal with the sadness and pain that accompanies the decision to place a parent in a nursing home.
Review
"Reading Vivian Greenberg's book was like having a friAnd who happened to be a professional walk me though a problem. . . . She expresses compassion and warmth for both sides of the generational struggle." (Rona Bartelstone, president, National Association for Private Geriatric Care Managers)
"A practical, down-to-earth, compassionate, and understanding guide for caregivers of the elderly that covers all the issues we cope with." (Louise Fradkin, co-director of Children of Aging Parents (CAPS))
Synopsis
Vivian Greenberg explains how to understand and accept the limits of what we can do for our parents. With insight and skill, she offers valuable information on
- how to recognize unrealistic expectations
- how to get our siblings to share responsibilities
- how to cope with difficult parents.
This updated and revised edition also includes advice on what role reversal really means as our parents grow older; why our own family should come first and what to do about loyalty conflicts; and how to deal with the sadness and pain that accompanies the decision to place a parent in a nursing home.
About the Author
VIVIAN E. GREENBERG has a private practice in Pennington, New Jersey, and is a featured columnist in Answers, a magazine for adults with aging parents. She conducts workshops and lectures throughout the country on the stresses of caregiving and the relationship problems between middle-aged adults and their elderly parents.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
3. The Elder Parent—Adult Child Bond.
2. What Do People Want From Us, Anyway?
3. Setting Limits.
4. Unrealistic Expectations.
5. Role Reversal.
6. What About Brothers and Sisters?
7. The Manipulative Parent.
8. Seeing Our Parents as People.
9. Children without the Gift of Caring.
10. Who Comes First?
11. That Unexpalined Anger.
12. The Hardest Decision of All.
13. The Second Hardest Decision.
14. "Difficult Parents".
15. Depression and the Elderly.
16. Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father: Help and Hope.
Appendix A. Offices on Aging.
Appendix B. What is a "Professional Geriatric Care Manager"?
Appendix C. Levels of Care.
Appendix D. Family Service America.
Appendix E. Patient Education Aid.
Appendix F. Children of Aging Parents (CAPS).
Appendix G. Resources for Caregivers.