Emotional Issues of Caregiving


Andrea Holmberg, program coordinator for Sharp Senior Resource Centers, answers these and more questions. Listen to the full audio clip to learn more.

Andrea Holmberg

My mom has Alzheimer's ... how can I help her?
Often times, caregivers are "fix it" people so they want to be able to go in and fix the problem, and you can’t really fix some of these things that caregivers are facing like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. One of the things that I like to recommend to people is to try and learn what you can about the disease that your loved one is facing, so you know what to expect, what is normal in the progression of the disease.

I'm feeling overwhelmed, what should I do?
Caregivers need to figure out a way to be able to take the breaks for themselves and to take these emotions and learn to cope with them. You also need to maintain a sense of humor. Don’t just think you have to do everything by yourself. And if you find that you can’t do some of the things, that’s okay, too. 

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