First Steps & Support

Nobody hands you a manual when your parent starts needing you. Suddenly you're the one making calls, tracking appointments, and figuring it out as you go — often alone, often exhausted. This is where to start if you're thinking how am I supposed to do all of this? These articles cover where to begin when you have no idea, what to do when siblings won't help, how to caregive from far away, keeping track of your parent's health, and when to call in a geriatric care manager. Think of it as the steady hand on your shoulder saying — okay, here's the first step.

Her Parents Help Articles
How to Find a Geriatric Care Manager — And Why This Person Might Be the Most Valuable Call You Make
How to Find a Geriatric Care Manager — And Why This Person Might Be the Most Valuable Call You Make

What if there was a professional whose entire job was to help you navigate caregiving? There is. They are called geriatric care managers — and they may be the most underused resource in all of caregiving.

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How to Keep Track of Your Aging Parent’s Health Without Feeling Overwhelmed
How to Keep Track of Your Aging Parent’s Health Without Feeling Overwhelmed

Appointments, medications, specialists, follow-ups — managing a parent's health can quickly become a second job. Here is a simple system for staying organized without letting it take over your life.

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Long Distance Caregiving — How to Help From Far Away When You Cannot Be There
Long Distance Caregiving — How to Help From Far Away When You Cannot Be There

You carry the worry everywhere — to work, to dinner, to bed. You feel guilty when life goes on while your parent struggles. But you are not powerless. Distance changes what caregiving looks like — it does not eliminate your ability to help.

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Siblings Who Are Not Helping — What to Do When You Are Doing It All Alone
Siblings Who Are Not Helping — What to Do When You Are Doing It All Alone

You take Mom to every appointment. You handle every phone call. You rearrange your life again and again — because someone has to. And your siblings? They are busy. Here is your plan.

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Caring for an Aging Parent at Home — Where to Start When You Have No Idea
Caring for an Aging Parent at Home — Where to Start When You Have No Idea

There was no orientation. No training. One day you were a daughter. And then you became a caregiver. And you have been figuring it out ever since. Start here.

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Things I Never Thought I'd Say to My Mother — The Caregiver Edition
Things I Never Thought I'd Say to My Mother — The Caregiver Edition

There is a moment in every caregiver's journey when you hear the words coming out of your mouth and think — when did I become the parent? This one is for the daughters who are doing the hard, loving, sometimes absurd work of showing up

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