Lotsa Blog

By: John Schall, CEO, Caregiver Action Network

November is National Family Caregivers Month and this year’s theme this is Family Caregivers – Now More Than Ever!

Each year, more and more Americans are caring for a loved one with a chronic condition, disability, or the frailties of old age.  There are as many as 90 million family caregivers in the U.S. today.  And family caregivers, in turn, rely on help from volunteers – friends, neighbors, others in the community – with any number of the many tasks that go along with caregiving.

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By: Comfort Keepers

Nothing hurts more than seeing a loved one’s memories start to fade away. Familiar faces and places are taking more time for your mom or dad to recognize, and the patience and compassion a family caregiver has to show at all times can be an unanticipated struggle some days. There is no cure for dementia, but studies have shown increased cognitive activity can help offset the progression of the disease and make improvements. The American Music Therapy Association says that music therapy provides dementia patients with numerous opportunities, and we want to go over some of the ways it can help enhance the care of your loved one with dementia.

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By David Novak

Caring for a loved one with an illness — like cancer, dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease– is not easy.  It takes strength, patience and love.  When caring for a loved one, your health and wellness may often take a backseat.  As a caregiver, all your time and energy is devoted to nurturing your friend or family member. You grab fast food at a drive-through or skip meals entirely to stay by his or her side.  You let your exercise program go.  And because a caregiver role can be extremely mentally fatiguing, your mental health can be at stake as well.

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By Anila Sitaram Venkat

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2030, 20% of Americans will be 65 years or older, up from 13% in 2009.  This trend represents a confluence of two factors: an aging Baby Boomer population and the fact that people are living longer than ever before.

This trend will no doubt have far-reaching implications, from creating a shortage of geriatricians and nurses trained to care for the elderly, to placing an increased burden on our hospitals and long-term care facilities. However a lesser recognized impact is the strain that this trend will place on caregivers: the family and friends charged with taking care of their elderly loved ones. 

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By Hope Flammer, CEO of VoiceQuilt

If you’re visiting this blog, you know that Lotsa Helping Hands is a terrific resource for coordinating support for a loved one in a caregiving community.  When I first discovered Lotsa Helping Hands, I envisioned armies of volunteers delivering casseroles to families taking care of a loved one in the hospital.

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Late in July, my twenty-two year old nephew was informed he had a brain tumor twice the size of a golf ball, requiring immediate surgery.  As Lotsa’s CEO, I found myself once again as a first-hand witness to how Lotsa Helping Hands can have a profound effect not only on the family caregivers and the patient, but also on the community of volunteers and supporters that rally behind them.

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By Dave Singleton, Caring.com author

Managing a loved one’s care doesn’t just take a village. Sometimes it requires advanced research skills and a master’s degree in organizational development, too.

If you’ve managed care of any kind for an aging parent, you know what I’m talking about. It’s heartwarming when friends and family offer support. But without a way to truly marshal all that good will, you’re still in need of a smiling army at your command to help out. Lotsa Helping Hands offers tools and resources to engage your army of helpers and act as a virtual organizational developer, especially when you need your village around you for a discrete period of time.

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by Paula Spencer Scott, senior editor at Caring.com

Seeing a friend or relative in need taps a wonderful human impulse in most of us: to give help. The quandary is that we’re often not exactly sure how to do that. What kind of help is needed? How can you find out? What’s the best way to offer meaningful, real help without being pushy, nosy, or otherwise off-key? Try these suggestions:

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Here at Lotsa Helping Hands, we often come across companies who also support and understand the needs of caregivers. When we find products and services that would be of use to our members, we want to share them with you. This guest post (and special Mother’s Day offer) comes from GreatCall, a company that has set out to make cell phones easy to use for aging loved ones.

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By: the American Brain Tumor Association
Caring for a loved one who has a brain tumor can be an overwhelming experience. In addition to medical terms to learn, schedules to manage and medications to dispense, there is the stress of dealing with an uncertain prognosis and a future that is forever altered. From the physical and emotional drain to the dramatic changes that can occur within the caregiver/patient relationship, embarking on the caregiving path can be a journey in and of itself.

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