My journey as my parent’s caregiver started slowly. Dad’s mind was beginning to fail so he asked me to take overpaying bills and dealing with insurance matters. My mother had never paid the bills or taken care of anything financially related so it fell to me. Being the only daughter put me in the “not […]

I’ve talked about levels of care and Assisted Living but I’d like to talk a little about Independent Living. The kids are out of the house.  The house is too big.  The lawn maintenance and pool maintenance are too much.  You want more to do more socially but the old neighborhood has become too quiet.  […]

First, let let me say, a referral service is not required to find an assisted living community.  Families are perfectly able to find one themselves.  That being said, by the time an assisted living community is needed time is usually of the essence.  When I started looking for a community for my mother, my father […]

When I was looking for an Assisted Living Community for my mother, I admit I had only heard the term Assisted Living a few times, usually in a commercial on TV.  I was more familiar with the term Nursing Home, but she didn’t need a nursing home.   When I began my search for a community […]

For many families, the decision to move a loved one into assisted living or memory care is often delayed until it becomes absolutely necessary. But new data suggests that waiting too long may significantly limit your options, especially in competitive markets like Los Angeles. According to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, […]

I’m sure most people have heard the saying “the cobbler’s children had no shoes” or “the doctor’s children were always sick.”  When my father, who was an attorney, was diagnosed with cancer and I was at the hospital with him, the intake nurse asked if dad had a Living Will.  He answered no. They asked him if he […]

Knowing when assisted living is the right step for an aging loved one is rarely simple. Families often sense that something has changed, but they are unsure whether those changes truly qualify someone for assisted living in California. Understanding how eligibility is determined can remove uncertainty and help families move forward with confidence. Who Assisted […]

Planning for a senior’s next chapter of life involves both heart and practical considerations. One of the most common concerns families face is: how much will assisted living cost? In urban areas like Los Angeles County and surrounding communities — including West Hollywood and the greater Metro Los Angeles region — costs can vary widely […]

I was watching the show “The Pitt” the other night and one of the storylines depicted an elderly couple who clearly needed to either move to assisted living or get some in-home help, and their grown daughter who was pulling her hair out trying to get them to listen to her.  Her parents were vehemently opposed to moving and […]

After my father-in-law passed we had to decide what help my mother-in-law and sister-in-law needed.  My mother-in-law, while spry and mentally sharp, was 90 and my sister-in-law, who lived with them, has end stage multiple sclerosis.  Needless to say, my mother-in-law could not run a household and take care of my sister-in-law’s needs.   They were not ready to leave their home so we […]

We’ve talked about Independent Living and Assisted Living so lets examine Memory Care.  Before I had to place my mother in Memory Care and more recently my mother-in-law, my quandary was how to know if she needed to be there.  She was happy in her Assisted Living situation but it was becoming apparent she needed […]

Reading the NY Times today I came across an article that I thought I’d share with you.  It was called “5 Conversations to Have With Your Aging Parents,” by Simar Bajaj. He wrote of our aging population and how many adult children do not know what is going on with their parents health until a […]