Christina's Considerations

Danger to Self, Others or Gravely Disabled

Tensions often exist between individual rights and liberties and those of a family, neighborhood or community. No where does this delicate balance seem to get tested more than in the areas of mental health and cognitive impairment. The latter of... Read more →

Opioids: Law and Addiction

Most of my prior book review posts involve the writings of doctors and a couple of other health professionals. I'm starting 2020 off with a little something different. An attorney who wrote Law and Addiction. It is a fictional thriller... Read more →

During the holidays, free yourself and let go of what you can't control!

The holidays can be a stressful, sad and/or lonely time for some. This may be especially true for family caregivers who are trying to navigate through family gatherings with a loved one who exhibits challenging behaviors. My holiday wish is... Read more →

Making Executive Decisions for an Aging Parent

There are struggles adult children face when it comes to the safety of aging parents or other loved ones. It might be taking the keys or firearms away, moving them from the home they know, placing them in a facility... Read more →

Chronic Illness Holiday Gift Guide: Top 5

Tis' the season of holidays and the giving of gifts. But, what do you get for someone with functional limitations caused by injury, chronic illness or aging processes? This year I've been keeping an eye out for a few items... Read more →

Tactics to Cope with Empty Nest Syndrome

Depression caused by loneliness is a real risk in senior populations. It can be triggered by the death of a spouse or friends. For some, however, it might begin earlier when children leave the home and their parents find themselves... Read more →

Adult Protective Services - for abuse, neglect & exploitation

My online support groups have given me tremendous new insight into healthcare social media. More specifically, about how patients and family caregivers use these tools to get advice on their challenges, threats and needs. These online networks have revealed opportunities... Read more →

Canines N Kids - At the Hospital

I've been a delinquent blogger again, but have some new ideas.... and a few books to review. One of these books is "We'll Get Through This Together". It reminds me of the power of pet therapy in the hospital or... Read more →

Book Review: Choosing Joy with Alzheimer's

"Joy and woe are woven fine." - William Blake There is a wonderful book for caregivers that offers expert advice ... from a caregiver. It is focused on her experience caring for someone with Alzheimer's, however, the experiences and advice... Read more →

Showcasing Functional Limitation Aids

A little over two years ago I started researching tools to help me stay active in spite of new functional limitations. I looked for products to help me perform activities of daily living as independently as possible. As I progressed... Read more →

Safety Leadership: Overcoming & Avoiding Bias

Earlier this year I wrote an article for healthcare professionals on safety leadership. The idea is that scientific methods, standardization and reliability are not enough to reduce error and failure. Sometimes human performance in the actual environment of care is... Read more →

Avoiding Delays in Neurological Diagnosis - The 1.0 Version

It is commonly reported that Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and other variants are rare conditions. Data on the numbers of cases diagnosed are used to create rates among the general... Read more →

Three Summer Essentials from Nature

Summer brings heat and dryness that can be especially challenging to those with chronic illness and/or undergoing treatments and care processes. There are a few products that I've added to my personal lists of essentials for the summer. If you... Read more →

Job Description: Family Caregiver

The Health Affairs blog has an excellent post distinguishing between activities of daily living (ADLs)* and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)**. More importantly, A 21st Century Job Description for Family Caregiving explains why using either term in the context... Read more →

Summer Advice from 3 Experienced Caregivers

This guest post comes from Scott, Kristen and Patrick offer their experienced advice on some ways that people can step up to help the caregivers in your life rest, recharge, and maybe even relax. They are part of the Embracing... Read more →