[.ca] Helping Your Aging Parent: A Step-By-Step Guide with CDROM (ISBN 0971737304)

a worthy & useful companion:
When William Grote approached me to review his new book I was elated, at last someone who has done what I, as I was writing STANDING THE WATCH: Memories of a home death, could not. Here he takes us through the maze of understanding our parents' needs & wants, in a big book, with a CD tucked into the back flap so you can print out the things you'll need along the way. When it comes to taking care of our parents, & by the millions, we baby-boomers are now facing this, most of us don't know where to begin. It is especially true if your parents have been independent & living on their own all your adult life. I know well what William Grote means when he wrote: "Sooner or later most of us will have to step in and help our parents...being able to help...when they're truly in need is one of the most important opportunities you'll have in your lifetime. It's far more important than a promotion at work, or any personal achievement you may seek for yourself. It's a chance to get in touch with the meaning of why you're here, to become aware of the greater sense of your humanity, or even allowing you insight into your roles as a spiritual being." Page 6. HELPING YOUR AGING PARENT is a worthy companion for everyone facing their parents' final years. It is reader-friendly, the cartoons are good for a giggle (you've got to hone your funny bone along with all your other skills!) & the information it contains, from health to economics, housing to hospice will be of immense use. Very well done!

Helping Your Aging parent:
In this very potent book the author takes a hard, detailed look at one of the least discussed, yet potentially most overwhelming dilemmas one will face. Topics include: The setting up of Trusts, Power(s) of Attorney, Alternative housing options, and even hospice care and funeral detail. The 2 most telling chapters are "Surviving the Hospital", and " Dealing With Dementia," subjects rarely broached with such candor. Many helpful and interesting websites are noted- (worstdrugs.com and searchousing.net, to name two), and sample forms and checklists one will find useful are included-( Nursing Home Evaluation Worksheet, Sample Durable Power of Attorney, Sample Life Directive, etc), all of which can be easily reproduced using the included CD-ROM. That said, the real power of this guide is derived from the many personal reflections by the author, who learned these truths first hand, in the process of helping his own mother during the last years of her life. While the title of the book may be "Helping Your Aging Parent", the message is just as easily that of bringing absolute fullment into one's own life. Everyone should read this book! "This is the person who took care of you...Reversing that roll isn't always easy- for either of you. It takes time to get comfortable with the idea. Unfortunately, time may not be what you have."

Help Your Aging Parent:
Would you know what to do or where to start if your ageing parent was showing health related problems that suggested things were not right? If you have an ageing parent you care about then this book is a must. It is an extremely well researched book that provides very easy to read detailed information on how to detect health problems with your ageing parent even if you know nothing about medical conditions, how to arrange medical care, accommodation, negotiating legal and administrative issues relating to your parent's assets and will, setting up trusts, right up to funeral arrangements. It really is a complete guide that will alleviate the mysteries of how to look after your ageing parents. It even includes a CD-ROM with 27 forms and checklists to provide practical assistance! There are also a number of websites to help out on identifying which drugs to avoid. This 'how to do' guide is presented with compassion and reflects the reader's real-life experiences. It provides all the information you will need to assist your ageing parent. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about their ageing parent/s. A very small investment in this book will provide enormous returns.

An included CD-ROM contains 27 forms and checklists:
Helping Your Aging Parent: A Step-By-Step Guide by William J. Grote is a superbly organized and highly accessible instructional reference and guide to determining when an aging parent needs help, to what extent one should step in and take charge, and presents easy-to-follow instructions and recommendations for the non-specialist general reader needing to navigating the legal and emotional maze of setting up trusts, power of attorney, finding the best and most affordable housing, surviving hospitalization, coping with mental disorders, nursing homes, and much more. An included CD-ROM contains 27 forms and checklists to help one sort through the book's information and put its advice to practical use. Helping Your Aging Parent is very highly recommended for anyone faced with the necessity of assisting their aged mother or father cope with the medical, emotional, financial, legal, and physical problems of old age.

Advice for Taking Care of Parents:
Contacted by this writer for a book review of his guide to helping aging parents, this reader was impressed by the amount of knowledge amassed by author Grote in his effort to help those faced with the awful decision of finding adequate care for the elderly. There has never been a greater need for the type of book author William J. Grote has put together, yet there comes a time when the information becomes essential to making the best decision possible for our loved ones. In Helping Your Aging Parent, Grote offers advice that ranges from visiting the doctor with your parent/s to finding a hospice to making funeral arrangements. And because this is such a difficult subject for many to face, it's easy to see why so many put these arrangements off until the last possible moment. Who really wants to deal with trust funds and living wills when it's the parent we're worried about? What about the stress involved in seeking a retirement home or nursing home when it becomes painfully obvious our parent can no longer function on his or her own? The issue of housing for the elderly is thoroughly covered in Grote's book, as are warnings and issues to watch for when exploring options. Mr. Grote also deals with geriatric illnesses ranging from Alzheimer's to various stages of dementia, hospital care, hospice care and the struggle most children face when dealing with the fact that their parent needs additional care. This extremely well written and researched book gives the reader a road map of sorts to follow, a guide for what to watch for and how to deal with nearly every imaginable situation. Face it - this is, unfortunately, an unavoidable subject. But after reading compassionate and intensively detailed how-to care book, it is obvious that ignoring the issues of aging won't make them go away. This book offers hard-earned advice and experience in ways to make the transition as stress free for the parent as possible, while offering support for those that are left to make difficult decisions. This is a must reference for any household, for sooner or later, we're all going to have to deal with the issue of aging and elderly care within our family. Mr. Grote, a worker in the publishing industry for a quarter of a century, decided to put this book together after having to face the reality that his own parent was showing signs of suffering from dementia. This guide is the result of many lessons, frustrations and hours of research.