Book Review By Irene Conlan – December 01, 2011
This is a book that is long overdue and is a must read for those who have aging parents as well as for the aging parents themselves. This book is filled with the wisdom about caring for aging parents that comes from experience and with the compassion that comes from love. Brent walked the path first and then wrote about it in an effort to help others avoid some of the pain,confusion and pitfalls she had to experience in caring for her aging father.
Our society has kept the subject of death and dying hush-hush. It wasn’t a subject we talked about as if not avoiding it would keep it from happening to us or our loved ones. Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross brought it to the forefront with her revolutionary book, On Death and Dying in 1969. Since then many books about grief and grieving have been written and many websites are dedicated to the subject of grief.
There is little available, however, on how to prepare for your care when you begin to decline – becoming unable to totally care for yourself. Furthermore, there is little available to help your loved ones prepare for your decline and death. Carolyn Brent helps you find ways to do this kind of planning together BEFORE its to late to have a viable discussion.It isn’t ever pleasant but it is absolutely essential.
Brent covers such subjects as finding an acceptable long term care facility and what is expected from them and what they expect from you. She details caring for them in your home. She helps you approach the discussion about money issues, end of life directives, and care for the body after death. She talks openly about family upheavals, jealousies, interference and ultimatums. She gives encouragement to the caregiver and offers great tips on how to be a caregiver without ruining your own health in the process. In fact she touches on all those difficult and delicate issues that we don’t know how to deal with or how to approach discussing them with the ones we love. She bravely bares her own soul and emotions to describe personal experiences to make it real to you and help you see the necessity of addressing these painful subjects with all who are affected.
Why Wait? is well written, speaks to the issues without beating them to death, holds your attention and addresses critical information in an understandable way. I recommend that anyone approaching their older years read it and give it to their children. I recommend it to the children of aging parents. I recommend it to caregivers everywhere and I urge every Senior Center and geriatrics practitioner to have a copy of this book available. If you don’t have a copy, Why wait to get your copy of Why Wait?
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Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords ebook
This book gives you a comprehensive handbook for family caregivers, outlining a step-by-step process that can spare caregivers and their families the stress of conflict at a time of grieving and loss, and provide an opportunity to mend fences and renew the connection and communication they once enjoyed with each other.
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Author and public speaker, Carolyn A. Brent, provides a comprehensive handbook for family caregivers, highlighting the crucial conversations siblings and their aging parents must have. She draws upon her own heartbreaking family experiences, plus exhaustive research on the subject, outlining a step-by-step process that can spare caregivers and their families the stress of conflict at a time of grieving and loss, but also an opportunity to mend fences and renew the connection and communication they once enjoyed with each other.
She explains everything you need to know about these crucial conversations in full detail, along with other important information covering the financial, legal and emotional necessities of aging and end-of-life issues, in her upcoming book Why Wait? The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Preparing Emotionally, Financially and Legally for a Parent’s Death which is coming out Nov 15, 2011. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to receive regular helpful tips, and news of the upcoming book release.
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And please do leave a comment below. I would love to hear about your personal story or experiences on this topic.
Carolyn A. Brent, M.B.A., is a former clinical educational manager in the pharmaceutical industry. During her role as a panelist on many clinical studies, she developed a passion to inform the public about the many side effects of drugs, especially those used in the care of the elderly. When her own father became ill with dementia in 1997, she began to experience firsthand the frustration of not only coping with the medical world, but also the legal, financial, and, of course, emotional aspects of caring for her aging father. Today, Carolyn is an avid activist and advocate working with the U.S. Congress for the purpose of creating change to protect seniors and veterans from financial and medical abuse. She has appeared on many local and national TV and radio shows, and is a sought-after keynote speaker. She resides in Northern California.
