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Is  there a doctor in the house? You might as well be one, according to a new AARP study of family caregiver responsibilities. I just blogged about the research and realized how lucky I was that I didn’t have to perform medical tasks with my parents or  mother-in-law. Intravenous feedings? Caregiving is already so complicated emotionally and logistically.

Examine my blog:

Family caregivers: If you’re ever looking for a new career, you might want to consider nursing or medicine. Results from the national survey “Home Alone: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Chronic Care,” released this week, suggest your learning curve may not be very steep.

Yes, family caregivers still perform typical tasks such as bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, shopping and handling finances. But the survey reveals the scope of duties often goes far beyond these responsibilities to include handling wound care, administering intravenous fluids and operating specialized medical equipment. Home dialysis. Suctioning. Ventilators. Scary!

Add to the list uncooperative recipients, inordinate amounts of time required to perform these sophisticated tasks and stress over making mistakes. What’s more, many of the 1,677 caregivers who participated in this joint AARP Public Policy Institute/United Hospital Fund online survey felt they didn’t get enough training or support.

For further admiration of family caregivers, check out these critical survey findings:

• 78 percent managed medication, including intravenous feedings, as well as injections. Nearly half dispensed five to nine prescription medications daily and 65 percent also took one to four over-the-counter pills.
• Almost half, or 46 percent, performed medical/nursing tasks for those with multiple chronic physical and cognitive issues.
• 53 percent who had medical/nursing responsibilities also coordinated care—more than double the rate of those who predominately gave personal care.
• More than half who did complex nursing/medical tasks said there was no one else to do it or insurance wouldn’t pay for a professional.
• The majority managing five or more nursing/medical duties believed their help allowed a family member to stay out of a nursing home. While caregivers felt that they were doing something important, more than half felt depressed or hopeless and more than one-third reported being in fair or poor health.
• 47 percent had no training for managing the medications, with more than 60 percent saying they learned how to manage at least some of the medications themselves.

Okay readers. What kinds of caregiving duties do you do? Which do you consider the hardest and why? Do you have any strategies to make your job easier? Let’s get the conversation going!

Photo courtesy of cakencookiebakr via Creative Commons

Lately I’ve heard of lots of people married for decades who are getting a divorce. Last week, a friend told me about a couple I know married 43 years who just called it quits. He found his high school love on Facebook. .

Divorce is so rampant among boomers it is now known as “grey divorce.” The reasons vary and the implications economically, psychologically, and professionally are enormous. I interviewed experts, as well as divorced and divorcing men and women for a recent story I did for AARP.

Why do you think so many long-married couples are saying “see ya?” How has being single in later life impacted people you know?

Photo by geography.org.uk via Creative Commons

And, a cool idea for family caregivers:

Until recently, if you were confined to your house, a hospital, or long-term care, you might get a visit from a chaplain or a weekly religious service at the facility. But for the more spiritual and religious, that feels like putting a penny in the money basket at church—a nice gesture, but inadequate.

The advent of online religious and spiritual offerings may be the answer to your prayers. Want to know why?

Excuse the flip title,”No Kids, Who Cares?” The question is, who will care for the one out of three folks ages 65+ who live alone when they need help? I know many single, older women who anguish over this question.

Many women never married, or are married without kids. Or, they may have children who live far away or from whom they’re estranged. It’s those adult children, if not a spouse, who usually wind up doing the bulk of the caregiving.

So, through my AARP blog post, I wanted to let readers know about a fascinating, new website started by Los Angeles social worker Marcy Cole called Childless Mothers Connect (don’t let the title confuse you, it’s for women childless by choice or circumstance). It could be a good place to discuss caregiving.

Fascinating figure: nearly half of adults ages 65-69 are self-employed, according to the latest Social Security Administration report.

Boomers: Take a look at this Forbes piece “Baby Boomers: America’s Hottest Group of New Entrepreneurs.” Love it!

The new technology for caregivers would make The Jetsons proud. Ever heard of GPS safety technology or wireless sensors that can notify a caregiver if Mom’s activities don’t make sense–she isn’t leaving her bed, or is leaving the house at an odd hour, for instance? It may sound Big Brother-ish, but it can be a godsend.

There’s lots for the active set, too: mobile PERS (Personal Emergency Response System)

A mobile PERS from MobileHelp

For my weekly AARP blog, aging in place tech expert Laurie Orlov recommends the premiere products and services for caregivers.

New topic:

Loved this piece in the Wall Street Journal on 90-year-old Iris Apfel. The face of MAC cosmetics. Designer. Metropolitan Museum donor–I mean actual things, not $$. Professor. Party-goer. Creative aging to the hilt!

Just wrote a piece on three fabulous living labs that are testing out technology in older adults’ homes. Great things are happening at ORCATECH in Portland, Oregon, the Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Aging and Independent Living (HAIL) Lab, and MIT’s AgeLab.

They’re testing out: the IPad for health coaching; sensors on the walls and ceilings to see if changes in mobility and walking speed can predict cognitive decline; smart pillboxes to see if people are taking their medicine, a Bandaid size cardiac chest sensor that transmits real-time info to a caregiving team; and Celia the robot, who moves around the house and can chat with, and have parents, adult children, or grandchildren keep one another company during meals, let’s say,in different houses. Tea with Grandma and Celia anyone?

Okay, talking taxes is a lot less riveting than my last post on how senior centers are trying to woo boomers (that’s riveting!), but figuring out how to get a tax deduction for taking care of a parent, relative, or in-law is worth it. Do you qualify for a $3700 deduction for caregiving or can you deduct your relatives’ medical expenses?

That is the topic of my weekly blog post for AARP. And, the Wall Street Journal wrote a similar piece the same week. Great venues think alike!

New subject: I want to put in a plug for my friend Kerry Hannon’s book What’s Next? She writes for AARP, Forbes and USA Today. And she’s working on a new book AARP Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy … And Pays the Bills. Stay tuned.

Kerry Hannon's book on changing careers

Photo by George Contorakes/Masterfile

I know it’s hard to believe, but you can join a motorcycle riding club, throw pots in a ceramic studio, learn to blog, work out a session with a personal trainer, and have uber fitness facilities at–yup, you read it right–a senior center.

Read about how senior centers are changing to snag a younger demographic in my latest Huffington Post piece.

More news:  a milestone last week in NYC: the opening of the country’s first LGBT senior center called the SAGE Innovative Senior Center. Check out its debut.

Good 'Ole Fashioned Contact!

Who says the Internet is the only way to go? Loved the idea that isolated and harried caregivers of parents and spouses who couldn’t/wouldn’t leave the house could pick up the phone and get support from others in their situation and from experts.

Real live voices! Some have continued conversations off line. My latest AARP blog offers a line on this caregiving concept and highlights two programs.

Now, here’s a novel idea. The Global Ageing Network reports plans to build a mock 1950s village in Switzerland where advanced stage Alzheimer’s patients would live. Professional caregivers will wear 1950s garb. IAHSA titles the piece Dementiaville.

What do you think?

Photo by Trace Meek via Creative Commons

Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art

Do you know that many museums around the country, including the Museum of Modern Art, offer fabulous programs for caregivers and those with Alzheimer’s? I visited one at MoMA–incredible! Here’s a bit about it and others I wrote about in my AARP blog. Participants on both sides of caregiving were enthralled. And check out the Degas in that photo!

The Huffington Post has decided it’s time to give those boomers their own section! “Huff/Post 50″ launched today, and has a piece I wrote entitled “A Not-So-Rare Breed of Boomers.” Here’s the link: http://huff.to/o7oiDh

It talks about what crazed beasts we humans are with our dogs. There’s even a mention of my fabulous Springer Spaniel Isabella (alas, deceased).

I am thrilled to be blogging regularly on boomers and aging for the Huffington Post. Be sure to check me out there http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-abrahms/.