Events - Event View

As a loved one ages and their ability to negotiate daily life decreases, the entire family is impacted, but as a society, we do not emphasize the importance of formulating a care plan for a senior the way we do for the birth of a child. There are many reasons why tackling this topic is both harder and more complicated for someone who has lived a full life but who now must contemplate the hard truths of aging. However, a willingness to brave some awkward
conversations and difficult decisions can save both the senior and their family a great deal of anxiety and hardship in the future.

Chrisanna Waldrop has lived these realities firsthand. It is her goal in this one hour presentation to present a blueprint of the overall topics that every family should consider before a crisis occurs. This talk is designed for families and individuals who are aware of the pressures of aging but have avoided thinking too much about it until now. The topics include demograhic realities, societal and familial reluctance to focus on these challenges, various forms decline can take,
legal authority, practical thinking and boundaries for both the care receiver and care giver, ambiguous and anticipatory grief, as well as initial questions for both parties to ask themselves in order to start seriously considering what plan of action may work.

Like a complex weaving, when a thread is pulled in one part, the fabric bunches up in another. Aging-related issues trigger an unexpected jumble of logistical and emotional issues that families have not considered. The purpose of this talk is educational and to encourage viewers to begin a serious conversation about planning for the future.