How to Talk to Your Senior Parents About Really Important Things

How To Talk to Your Senior Parents About Really Important Things is a hands-on guide for adult children who want to talk to their parents about many of life's most challenging issues, including sensitive topics such as driving safety, choosing alternative living arrangements, dealing with grief and bereavement, avoiding scams that target the elderly, unwise romances, and much more.This comprehensive and handy resource offers useful guidelines and expert advice that can be adapted to fit your family dynamics. It will give you a solid foundation for building frank and candid communication with your senior parents.

Acknowledgments

Introduction 1

Part 1 Health and Well-Being 5

Activities of Daily Living 7

Driving Safety 21

Late-Onset Alcoholism 35

Late-Life Romance 55

Geriatric Care Managers 71

Part 2 Mental Health 87

Grief and Bereavement 89

Depression 103

Dementia 125

Part 3 Housing 139

Choosing to Live at Home 141

Alternative Living Arrangements 159

Part 4 Financial Issues 179

Daily Money Management 181

Consumer Fraud: Cons and Scams 205

Long-Term Care Insurance 219

Estate Planning 235

Part 5 End of Life 255

Funeral Arrangements 257

Chapter Notes 269

General Information Resources 273

The Author 277

Theresa Foy DiGeronimo is the coauthor of the best-selling books from Jossey-Bass How to Talk to Your Kids About Really Important Things (1994), How to Talk to Your Teens About Really Important Things (1999), and the author of How To Talk to Your Senior Parents About Really Important Things (2001). She is adjunct professor of English at the William Paterson, University of New Jersey. She lives in Hawthorne, New Jersey with her husband and three children. As an adult child, you may find yourself changing roles with your senior parents. More and more often you may need to be their helper or caretaker. In many instances, this transition can be difficult and awkward for both you and your parents.

How To Talk to Your Senior Parents About Really Important Things is a hands-on guide for adult children who want to talk to their parents about many of life's most challenging issues, including sensitive topics such as driving safety, choosing alternative living arrangements, dealing with grief and bereavement, avoiding scams that target the elderly, unwise romances, and much more.

This comprehensive and handy resource offers useful guidelines and expert advice that can be adapted to fit your family dynamics. It will give you a solid foundation for building frank and candid communication with your senior parents.

"An indispensable guide to dealing with older adults. Theresa DiGeronimo explains many complex issues with masterful simplicity, even the sensitive subject of alcohol and medication problems. This book is a must-have for every family with an older adult."
—Carol Colleran, director of older adult services, Hanley-Hazelden Center, West Palm Beach, Florida

"This sensitive book serves as a practical guide for adult children to communicate effectively with their elderly parents on vital issues addressing the aging process."
—Michael H. Beechem, associate professor, Division of Social Work, University of West Florida

"A guide for those millions of baby-boomers as they make the journey from being the children of their parents to being their parents' caretakers. This is a difficult role reversal, under the best of circumstances, and Theresa DiGeronimo directs us in the path to this transition with a calm and steady hand."
—Patrick Mathiasen, M.D.