Community Blog

Why Doing It Yourself Caregiving Is Often More Expensive Than Families Realize

Many families hesitate to bring in help because they are trying to save money. That instinct makes sense. But “doing it ourselves” is not always the lower-cost path people imagine. Sometimes it simply shifts the cost into places that are harder to see: AARP and related workplace-caregiving research continue to show that working caregivers face...

How to Find Trustworthy Home Care: What to Ask and What to Watch For

If you are searching for home care for a loved one, there is a good chance you have not slept particularly well lately. You are probably holding a lot right now. The worry. The guilt. The relief that help might finally be on the way. And underneath all of it, the fear of making the...

A meaningful day at the 2026 NCPMI Annual Conference: The Power of MORE!

NCPMI has been an important part of my professional journey. From being part of this community to now serving as VP of Membership, it has given me opportunities to learn, lead, serve, and build lasting professional relationships. This year, it was especially meaningful to contribute in another way, as a conference speaker. I had the...

The Conversation About Forgiveness That Aging Makes Urgent

You have been carrying it for a long time. Maybe it is something a loved one did years ago that shaped you in ways you are still untangling. Maybe it is something that happened more recently. A decision that felt like a betrayal. A time when you needed something and it was not given. Maybe...

The 26-Hour Week: What Family Caregiving Really Looks Like

Many people still think of family caregiving as “helping out.” A ride to an appointment. Picking up groceries. Checking in more often. But for many families, caregiving is not occasional help. It is a part-time job layered on top of everything else. AARP’s recent caregiving research continues to show the scale of this reality, with...

What Nobody Asks the Teenagers: The Hidden Caregivers in Every Family

Everyone in the house is focused on getting through today. Maybe a loved one is no longer recognizing the people around them. Maybe someone the family adores is in the middle of treatment, too exhausted to be fully present. Maybe a beloved family member’s personality has been quietly shifting in ways that nobody has named...

The Conversation About the Will That Tears Families Apart

There is a sentence that changes the atmosphere in a room almost instantly. “We should probably talk about the will.” People stop making eye contact. Someone changes the subject. Someone jokes that there is nothing worth fighting over anyway. And almost everyone silently hopes the conversation will disappear. It rarely does. The conversation simply waits...

Hospitals Discharge Patients Fast. Families Aren’t Always Ready.

A hospital discharge can feel like good news. A loved one is finally coming home. The hospital stay is over. Everyone wants to believe recovery will now feel easier. But for many families, the hardest part begins after discharge. The home may not be ready. The older adult may still be weak. Medications may have...

The Phone Numbers and Organizations Every Caregiving Family Should Have Saved

You will not need most of these on a typical Tuesday. But on the Tuesday when something changes, having them already saved is the difference between acting quickly and spending the first hour of a crisis searching for information you did not know you needed. Most families find these resources the hard way. A discharge...