CARING FOR AGING PARENTS

"We hear so much about the role reversal that comes with caring for an aging parent, and let me give it to you straight- as a geriatrician I won't be a party to it.  By 'taking charge,' I don't mean infantalizing or demeaning someone you care about by making him or her the child without a voice in this process.......I assure you that in most cases getting your parent to accept the help he or she needs can be done in such a way that he or she runs the show to the greatest extent practical.  Rob an older person of his or her dignity, and you're ruining quality of life, not enhancing it."  TREAT ME, NOT MY AGE, by Mark Lachs, M.D.