Parenting Your Aging Parents – How To Protect Their Quality of Life, and Yours
There's a simple reason I did the research and interviewing, and wrote this book: I needed the information, and I couldn't find it on any bookshelf in the country. As I went through the experience of caring for my own aging parents, I had to face the tedious, difficult and painstaking task of searching out all the relevant information I needed to understand their problems, define their options and opportunities, and help them formulate the best possible responses and decisions.
I had to deal with problems of housing, government and private health insurance, financial affairs, physical deterioration and medical care, legal matters, emotional considerations, family issues and ultimately death. I had to cope with uncomfortable issues, and make decisions that would help my aging parents without throwing the family into emotional chaos or financial hardship.
I was surprised to discover how hard it was to find out about my parents' problems and what I could do to help. I didn't expect this to be so difficult. But the problems were very complex with many subtleties, and there were so many obstacles to understanding my parents' situation that I was very nearly overwhelmed. I eventually woke up to the idea that others might need some assistance in obtaining and understanding the same type of information. They would almost certainly need some support in choosing what to do for their parents, and when to do it.
I was right. Over the years, I've been continually amazed at the sheer number of families afraid to face the reality of their parents' growing weakness, or struggling to cope with the same sort of problems that still confront us. As with raising children, caring for aging parents is different in every family. But everyone faces similar issues, emotions and demands. What's most surprising—given the vast number of Americans presently in this fix—is the difficulty of assembling all the needed information about how best to help and deal with parents (or other relatives) as they become infirm and dependent due to age. It’s a completely fragmented system which demands our perseverance and utmost efforts before yielding the needed information and services for our aging parents.
But giving your parents this kind of parenting need not be solely a drain of time and energy. The process of caring for older family members can easily become a source of deep satisfaction. It can bring the family closer together. Any family member can gain a strong, lasting pleasure from fulfilling these important responsibilities, including young children who have the opportunity to help Grandma and Grandpa.
I structured this book so you can easily find the information you need, using either the Table of Contents or the Index. You may want to turn directly to the pages you need, but I hope you'll read the book cover to cover when you get the chance because I provide a lot of valuable information, experience and advice throughout.
Here’s hoping my book makes parenting your aging parents easier for you, and leads to the best possible outcome!
About Robert Moskowitz (Los Angeles, California Author)
Robert Moskowitz is an Emmy-winning author and editor with a knack for conveying complex and difficult topics in a friendly, down-to-earth style. In his more than four decades of professional activity, he has been:
- a senior consultant for Hill and Knowlton Public Relations,
- editor of a dozen or more monthly newsletters on finance, investing, and management,
- an executive and consultant in the dot-com world,
- managing editor of various publications and websites, and
- president of his own book publishing company.
In addition to more than a dozen audio-and-workbook programs that he wrote and produced for the American Management Association, Hume Publications, and others, his published books include "How To Organize Your Work and Your Life" (Doubleday), "Small Business Computing -- A Guide in Plain English," (Dearborn), "Out On Your Own" (Key) and "Parenting Your Aging Parents" (Key).
Aside from his creative production, he has founded two non-profit organizations: The Public Interest Media Project, and the American Telecommuting Association.
Mr. Moskowitz has appeared at conferences and seminars across North America and Europe to teach and lecture on a wide variety of topics, including risk management, business management, and business uses of the Internet. He has researched and written a large number of long-form products covering many aspects of winning strategies for insurance, financial planning, knowledge management, public relations, and investing, and won an Emmy for his work on Public Television's "Dollars and $ense" financial education series.
He resides in Santa Monica with his wife, a novelist, where they collaborate on film and TV scripts. Like all natural writers, he is currently at work on a novel.
