Redefining Aging

The bestselling author of Living Through Personal Crisis delivers "a comprehensive guide to the challenges of elder care for family members" (Jesse F. Ballenger, coeditor of Treating Dementia).

Caring for an elderly family member can be overwhelming. But fulfilling life experiences are still possible for both caregivers and their loved ones, despite the stress and fatigue of caregiving.

In this comprehensive book, bestselling author Ann Kaiser Stearns explores the practical and personal challenges of both caregiving and successful aging. She couples findings from the latest research with powerful insights and problem-solving tips to help caregivers achieve the best life possible for those they care for—and for themselves as they age.

Topics include:

• Improving the quality of life for the one giving and the one receiving care
• Distinguishing normal aging from early warning signs
• Understanding caregiver sadness, resentment, guilt, and grief
• Using strategies and skills to minimize an impaired elder's distress and emotional outbursts and the caregiver's own anxieties about growing old
• Finding resources to aid in the care of the loved one and protect the caregiver from stress overload
• Moving forward after the death of a loved one to have a meaningful life of one's own
• Overcoming ageist stereotypes and deciding what kind of "old person" one will be
• Making life easier for those who someday will care for us

Redefining Aging will help readers think differently about caregiving and their own aging.

"Ann Kaiser Stearns offers a wide-ranging and thoughtful discussion of lessons learned about the joys and challenges of caregiving for a chronically ill loved one." —Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPH, coauthor of The 36-Hour Day