Below are a few questions I asked Sheila Warnock, author of Share the Care recently for my monthly newsletter…(sign up for monthly newsletter here)

JH: When an adult child first realizes they need outside help in assisting a newly widowed parent, what is the first thing they need to do to assemble support team or “caregiver group”? How soon after loss do you think this should take place?

 SW: GET EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. A family discussion with your siblings and newly widowed parent will enable your family to honestly determine what kind of assistance is needed, who in the community might help and how fast you need to get organized. It’s crucial to recognize if your parent will need a great deal of support, or if they can do well just cushioned with loving practical and emotional backing for a few weeks or months. If a parent needs constant companionship and physical care other options may need to be considered with input from his or her physician. The key is to agree support is needed. A parent might resist allowing others to help fearing loss of independence, being perceived as a burden, or that they could never reciprocate. (more…)

Helpful grief support groups are hard to find after you lose a parent. That is why 8 years after my father’s death, I had heard so many good things about the Griefshare program, I had to experience it myself. Every week for 13 weeks I will write about my experience attending the Griefshare program. Griefshare is a structured nondenominational thirteen-week support group with videos, a workbook and discussions about grief and loss.  The videos feature grief specialists talking about grief and recovery issues while telling real life stories of others who have experienced a loss. (more…)

I wish I’d known about The Health Resource when my father was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This is a professional medical information research organization that puts together for you a completely researched overview of your cancer or non-cancer medical diagnosis based on stage and provides traditional and alternative therapies for treatment. They can also save you time by providing you lists of the top specialists and their contact information for your type of disease. The Health Resource has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle Magazine and Forbes Magazine.