Caring For Your Parents

Last April, PBS aired the program "Caring for Your Parents", which focused on the fact that many adult children are "grappling with an unprecedented social, cultural, economic, and personal revolution as they transition into the primary caregiver role for their aging parents."

This two-hour program covers "today's struggle to keep parents at home, tensions between siblings, and the complexity of shifting caregiver roles through an intimate look at five American families."

After the program, there is a half-hour discussion with medical correspondent Dr. Art Ulene entitled "A Conversation About Caring." During this session, the speakers offer concrete advice and guidance (read interviews with the doctors here)on how to start the conversation, which is quite often the most difficult step in caregiving - and one we cannot afford to avoid.

Watch the PBS program "Caring for Your Parents" online.

Access the Caregiver Handbok.

Home Instead Senior Care

Home Instead Senior Care is a company that serves around 200 Central Ohio senior citizens that live in their homes. They suggest that adult children will speak to their parents who are in their 70's about various issues to ensure the senior's needs are met.

Their "40-70" program is organized nationwide through the Home Instead Senior Care franchise,, and it offers various resources at 4070talk.com. These materials include a "conversation starter guide", an "online communications assessment", and a "communications guide". A booklet can be ordered online or by calling (614) 849-0200.

They emphasize talking early about aging issues so that there is less of a communication barrier when issues pop up later.

Eons.com - An Online Community for 50+ Americans

This website follows in the footsteps of popular websites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com. These websites are an "online gathering place" which are very popular with teens and young adults.

Eons.com is similar, but specifically made for the 50+ crowd. It includes networking tools, information on "body", "money", "love" and "fun", as well as a search engine designed to find items related to the users stage in life.

Give Eons.com a try and leave a comment as to whether you find it useful!

Web Link - Ohio Association of Senior Centers

The Ohio Association of Senior Centers exists to support and enhance the ability of Ohio's senior center network to effectively serve older adults by providing 1) education, mentoring, and training to senior center and aging network staff; 2) professional senior center staff certification; 3) development of new funding resources; and 4) information on legislative issues and organized advocacy efforts on behalf of older Ohioans.

Click here for OASC Member Senior Centers.

Squidoo Lens - Elder Law

Check out my Squidoo Lens on Elder Law. It has many links and is generally a portal I've created for you to access information related to issues you may be facing. Please sign the guestbook and leave a suggestion so that I may make it better!

Thank you!

Web Link - Wills of the Famous (Part 2)

The British National Archives has collected some famous wills from long ago. These include William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Byron, and Sir Francis Drake.

Enjoy!

Web Link - Wills of the Famous

CourtTV's Wills of the Famous allows you to see the wills of various celebrities, from Joe DiMaggio, Marylin Monroe, Elvis and even Princess Di.

You'll notice that some of them don't have much information for our prying eyes to see. This is because their living trust owned thier assets during life, which controlled who got thier "stuff" and when they got it. This way, the public does not see exactly who inherited, and who did not. To some, this privacy is extremely valuable.

If you are interested in why you may prefer a living trust centered estate plan rather than a will based plan, contact an estate planning attorney today.