Monitoring

• Buying Guide - A Buyer's Guide to Personal Emergency Response Systems

  Guide to personal emergency response systems, or PERS. Home devices that connect your parent to a 24-hour call center with the push of a button.

• Checklist - 10 Things You Should Know About Your Parents' Finances

  Know the answers to these 10 elderly parent finance questions. Where do they keep their financial records? Do they have a durable power of attorney?

• Article - Warning Signs That Your Parents' Finances Are Off Track

  Eight warning signs that your parents may need help with bill paying, financial planning, and daily money management.

• Article - When Your Parent Moves In: How to Get Your House Ready

  A list of steps to take in advance of moving your parents into your home.

• Checklist - 5 Most Important Financial Questions to Ask Your Parent

  Discussing your parent's financial situation can be difficult and emotional. Start with the key questions about money, insurance, and legal documents.

• Article - Monitoring Blood Glucose: What You Should Know to Help a Parent with Diabetes

  Monitoring the blood glucose of a parent with diabetes helps identify which treatments work best. Here are the basics of blood glucose monitoring.

• Interview - Talking With Julie Winokur

  Julie Winokur, whose film series The Sandwich Generation documents her family's care-giving experience, reflects on caring for parents at home.

• Article - How to Protect Your Parents from Fraud

  Common financial scams that target the elderly -- and how you can help your parents avoid them.

• Article - 3 Acute Diabetes Complications You Can Help Your Parent Avoid

  Find out how to help your parent with type 2 diabetes avoid short-term complications such as low or high blood sugar (hypo- or hyperglycemia).

Blog Posts

• Blog Post - 10 Signs Your Parent Is Struggling Financially

  Financial problems may not be immediate apparent. Here are tell-tale warning signs that elders are feeling the need to cut back on their expenses.

• Blog Post - Diabetes A1c Test: Out With the Old and In With the New

  A new diabetes measure, called an eAG, tracks blood sugar levels.

• Blog Post - Should You Put Type 2 Diabetes to the Test?

  Researchers are asking whether daily self-monitoring is worth the effort and expense.

• Blog Post - A Stay-at-Home "Nursing Home"

  The I-House, a stay-at-home nursing home, is a "smart house" for seniors, the latest entry in a trend toward high-tech aging in place.

• Blog Post - Old Meets New: High-Tech Toys Help Seniors Deal With Diabetes

  A handy list of high-tech gadgets that can help take the hassle out of dealing with diabetes for seniors and their caregivers.

• Blog Post - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People With Diabetes

  Find advice from self-help writer Stephen R. Covey in a guide for people with type 2 diabetes and their caregivers called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People with Diabetes.

• Blog Post - My mother gave power of attorney to her new husband, who is putting her life in danger. How can we get it away from him?

  My mother's new husband has power of attorney for her, but I feel he puts her life in danger. How can we get her to reappoint power of attorney?

• Blog Post - My father is in failing health and financial ruin, living with a woman who is bipolar, and refuses my help. What can I do?

  My father is 69 years old and in failing health...

• Blog Post - When You Can't Check in With Your Parents, Cops (Often) Can

  Numerous services will check in on your parent when you can't. Find them by searching "senior check-in" and your parents' town.

• Blog Post - Know Thy Father: A Guide to Dad's Day

  Knowing your dad well is a good guide to celebrating Father's Day.

• Blog Post - Don't Wait for a Doctor's Visit to Test for High Blood Pressure

  For those with high blood pressure, home monitoring is recommended by the American Heart Association and other major organizations.

• Blog Post - Robots and Other High-Tech Solutions Help Seniors Stay at Home

  New high-tech monitoring systems allow seniors to age in place with greater safety and freedom, but also raise privacy concerns.

• Blog Post - Big Brother is Watching....Mom and Dad

  A new breed of high-tech retirement community is using technology to monitor seniors with dementia and other conditions, offering new freedoms while raising privacy concerns.

• Blog Post - Keeping Your Parents Safe From Scammers

  Senior citizens are attractive targets for scammers, according to a new report, but there are some simple and easy things you can do to help keep your parent from being victimized.

• Blog Post - My mother's caregiver is too controlling and won't take direction from us.

  My mother has Alzheimer's and has had a live-in caregiver...

• Blog Post - Should Cancer Patients Take a Chemo Vacation?

  Most news headlines about cancer treatment trumpet...

• Blog Post - Diabetes A1c Test: New Use for an Old-Line Tool

  The A1c diabetes test should be used to screen for undetected diabetes, say a panel of experts.

• Blog Post - Home Monitors Watch Over Seniors Aging in Place

  Home electronic monitors, which attach to the walls in seniors' homes and trigger a call for help, are an important option for aging-in-place safety.

Questions & Answers

• Question - How do I monitor a caretaker's effectiveness?

  Formal legal arrangements such as powers of attorney or conservatorships may help ensure the best care for an aging relative. If not, the local Adult Protective Services agency may be able to help.

• Question - How can I help my mother handle low blood sugar incidents?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What steps are required to get a conservatorship?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - Should my active parent check his blood sugar during exercise?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What if I'm worried about my dad's Alzheimer's but he and my mom aren't?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert and a Community Member

• Question - Can we travel with parents with dementia?

  This question has been answered by two Community Members

• Question - Could my father's loud snoring be caused by a medical problem?

  Loud snoring may indicate a medical problem like sleep apnea. Loud snoring could also be caused by obesity, alcohol, smoking, and medications.

• Question - Can you advise me about how to talk to my grandmother's doctor?

  I need help talking to my grandmother's physician.

• Question - What can be done to help my mother's fatigue, caused by her heart failure meds?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

Tips & Reflections

• Tip - Monitor Your Parents' Bank Account Online

  Seniors don't always know when they're being scammed...

• Reflection - What I Wish I'd Known About Being a Working Mother and Caregiver: Filmmaker Julie Winokur

  Filmmaker Julie Winokur, who chronicled care giving for her father in The Sandwich Generation, talks about being a working mother and caregiver.

• Tip - Know When You're Needed at Night

  If your parent tends to need your help in the middle...

• Tip - Rest Easier With a Medical Emergency Alert System

  If your parent lives alone, an emergency alert system...

• Tip - Archive Legal Documents Online

  Give family members (and anyone else you designate...

• Tip - parent with dementia

  After caring for two elderly parents for several...

News

• News - A Full and Long Life, Despite Diabetes

  WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Bob Cleveland...

• News - New Cancer Drug Boosts Blood Pressure

  WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The new anti...

• News - Defibrillation Comes Late in 30 Percent of Hospital Cases

  WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- About a third...

• News - New Technology No Better at Spotting 'Anesthesia Awareness'

  WEDNESDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- A much-touted...

• News - Minorities, Poor Have Tougher Time Monitoring Diabetes

  FRIDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Minority and low...

• News - Biomarker May Predict Response to Cancer Therapy

  SUNDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- A biomarker that...

• News - Clinical Symptoms Enough to Switch Drug Regimens for HIV Patients

  THURSDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- Decisions on...

• News - Home Monitoring Program Improves Outcomes for Heart Patients

  THURSDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Remote monitoring...

• News - Childhood Cancer Survivors Prone to Early Heart Trouble

  FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who had cancer...

• News - Islet Cell Transplants Aid Type 1 Diabetics

  FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Transplanted islet...