September 30th, 2013 → 5:45 pm @ Reciprocal Care
This illustration, “Walk in their shoes,” shows me in my role as a geriatric caregiver extending my hand to a frail woman who is gingerly standing in place as if for the first time in years. The focus spirals to the center of our connection – our hands. In fact, I […]
Blog &geriatric nursing &healthcare &hospice &nursing home &Skilled nursing
September 22nd, 2013 → 4:57 pm @ Reciprocal Care
Nature itself as well as ancient symbols like the spiral, circle, tree of life, can bring energy and healing, helping caregivers make connections. There is sustainability, survival and resilience in a caregiver’s voice and recovery. A father described his unusual experience at the grave side of his daughter who died several years ago. Instead of […]
August 26th, 2013 → 4:37 pm @ Reciprocal Care
The need for a hospice impressed itself on Mother Teresa when she came upon the body of a man under a tree. Mike Nicol writes in LOVE: The Words and Inspiration of Mother Teresa: “She had noticed him earlier while passing in a tram and he had been alive, although sodden by the monsoon […]
Blog &emergency room care &geriatric nursing &healthcare &hospice &nursing home &Skilled nursing
December 9th, 2012 → 11:14 pm @ Reciprocal Care
The holidays can cause a problem of overstimulation. Especially persons with dementia need help to be able to respond positively to the flood of activities; otherwise under or over stimulation can cause them to withdraw, decreasing their responsiveness – or to panic, increasing their unwanted agitated behaviors. While living in a healthcare facility, Angelina had […]
September 25th, 2012 → 1:06 pm @ Reciprocal Care
I knew I had finally found the right title for my book when an elder I was visiting repeated several times after I said the title – “Isn’t that a great title?” Then she asked me to repeat the title after which she repeated again, “Isn’t that a great title?” When this same exchange repeated […]
August 10th, 2012 → 4:57 pm @ Reciprocal Care
“I think I have a lily going to sleep,” my mother would say in the early stages of her dementia. Why didn’t I realize then that she was talking about death of her own brain cells due to Alzheimer’s as well as death of her flowers? A long denied stigma especially in the medical world […]
August 10th, 2012 → 4:38 pm @ Reciprocal Care
This memory returns as I observe the current need for soothing modalities of caregiving for elderly dementia patients as well as for people in the crisis of grieving the loss of loved ones. Thirty years ago, in the metropolis ofNew York City, I stood awestruck as I listened to parents and caregivers of many cultural […]