In a powerful blending of memoir and practical strategies from a medical doctor’s perspective, The Gift of Caring: Saving Our Parents – and ourselves - from the Perils of Modern Healthcare reveals the hidden side of modern healthcare practices for aging Americans. This ground-breaking book, co-written by award-winning author Marcy Houle and nationally-recognized geriatrician and public health advocate, Elizabeth Eckstrom MD MPH, sheds new light on aging by showing it from twin perspectives: the story of a daughter desperately seeking help for the parents she loves, and a geriatrician who offers life-changing strategies that can protect our loved ones and ourselves. Today, for many older adults, the medical delivery system is confusing, fragmented, and ill-equipped to provide comprehensive, person-centered care. Under our current healthcare model, thousands of aging persons face unnecessary suffering, hospitalizations and nursing home stays, and even preventable death.   Seniors and families often feel powerless as they travel this sad journey. Not having knowledge of aging’s changes, they resign themselves to believing there is nothing anyone can do to help, while some health care professionals simply write off symptoms seniors endure as “just old age.”   But as Marcy Houle discovered in caring for her parents, many of the problems often are not “just old age.” Further, the real issue is not that the answers to ease suffering don’t exist. Rather, what we need to know is generally not available to the general public. Even more concerning, many health care professionals have had little or no training in the care of older adults.   The Gift of Caring hopes to change that.  It is written to give empowerment to all older adults, family members, and health care professionals, by sharing much needed knowledge and practical strategies. The Gift of Caring shows the best ways to advocate for our parent’s health care … and our own … by giving us the tools we need to insist upon the better way. Your parents and you deserve the best healthcare as you age- But there are so many reasons why that’s not happening.You can change that.

Table of Contents:
Part I: The Airplane Diaries 1 Colliding Worlds 2 First Decline What I Wish I’d Known: Early Warning Signs of Dementia (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 3 Panic Attack 4 Countdown to Advocacy What I Wish I’d Known: What Is Dementia, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer’s Disease . . . and How Do You Tell the Difference? (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 5 A New Way of Seeing 6 Passages What I Wish I’d Known: How to Find a Good Memory Facility (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 7 Montavilla Beginnings What I Wish I’d Known: Moving Day: How to Ease the Transition (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 8 Dallas II 9 Visiting Hours 10 The Phone Call What I Wish I’d Known: Falls—A Leading Cause of Death in Older Adults and What You Can Do to Prevent Them (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 11 Surgery for an Alzheimer’s Patient 12 It’s a Matter of Life or Death What I Wish I’d Known: A Deadly Fate with Few Symptoms—Dehydration—How to Recognize It and How to Prevent It (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 13 Forsaken 14 No Man Is an Island 15 Do No Harm What I Wish I’d Known: The Problem of Pain in Dementia and Why Millions of Seniors Are Suffering (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 16 Return of the Man Part II: A Good Ending 17 A Radical Prescription What I Wish I’d Known: The Best “Anti-aging” Pill of Them All (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 18 No Senior Left Inside What I Wish I’d Known: The ABCs of Exercise (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 19 I’m Not Cedaring; I’m Scissoring What I Wish I’d Known: How to Ensure Parents’ Wishes for Care Are Met—Before a Crisis Hits (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 20 Who’s Shelby? What I Wish I’d Known: What Is a TIA? And What Do I Do If I Think My Parent Is Having One? (Elizabeth Eckstrom,MD, MPH) 21 Stories from the Fall 22 The Very Best Christmas Ever 23 Three Things What I Wish I’d Known: The Art to Aging . . . Healthfully. . . for Your Body and Your Mind (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 24 I See Little Green Men What I Wish I’d Known: Come to Your Senses! The Value of Aids (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 25 Delirious 26 Paging Doctor HIP! What I Wish I’d Known: What Delirium Is, and Why It’s Essential You Know How to Spot It (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 27 “Sometimes It’s Better If They Never Wake Up” What I Wish I’d Known: The Most Important Medical Word That Can Save Your Parent’s Life—“Baseline” (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 28 Where Old People Are Sent to Die 29 The Lazarus Syndrome 30 A Hope and a Future 31 So What’s a Geriatrician and Why Should I Care? What I Wish I’d Known: The Tsunami Is Coming . . . and Why You Should Be Worried (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 32 Pharmacopeia What I Wish I’d Known: Too Many Pills—The Fourth-Leading Cause of Death in Seniors (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 33 The Search Begins 34 Honey and Dummy 35 Mountains and Valleys What I Wish I’d Known: The Care and Maintenance of Caregivers (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 36 Who’s Taking the Trazadone? What I Wish I’d Known: How to Get a Good Night’s Rest— Naturally (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 37 The Art of Caregiving 38 Living to One Hundred 39 And They Shall Inherit the Earth 40 Go GICU! Stop Step-Down! What I Wish I’d Known: The Serious Problems of Today’s Hospitals for Older Adults—Why We Need to Demand a Change Now (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 41 How to Pack for the Next Trip 42 Faithful Companion 43 Crossing the Line What I Wish I’d Known: What Is Palliative Care, and How Can It Help My Parents and Me? (Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH) 44 A Good Ending Appendix 1 The Drugs Seniors Should Not Be On but Are Too Often Prescribed, as Determined by the American Geriatric Society “Beers List” Appendix 2 Health History Sheets: What Every Senior Must Have Appendix 3 Continuity of Care: The Daily Checklist for You, Your Parent, Your Caregiver, and Your Doctor