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Caring for Parents

Jane Garvey talks to Carol Lee about the difficulties - practical and emotional - of caring for elderly parents long distance. And listeners tell us about their experiences of caring for parents, or being looked after by adult children.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore.

Available now

58 minutes

Caring for parents and elderly relatives

Like it or not many of us are living longer and as we approach the end of our lives, many of us  need more rather than less care.  Often it falls to the next generation – the adult children, relatives, sometimes even neighbours or friends – to pick up the reigns.  We’re looking at what happens when you’re called on to provide this kind of care for parents and other relatives.How involved are you?  Are you able to share the responsibilities with your siblings or other relatives? What impact does caring for them have on your own life and other family responsibilities.  Have you thought about moving a parent in with you or perhaps moved into their home instead.  Or perhaps you’ve helped to move them into some kind of sheltered accommodation or care home. We’re going to be exploring the other side of the coin too – how it feels to ask for help when living independently becomes a problem. Author Carol Lee joins Jane in the studio. Her memoir Out of Winter, explore how she cared for her parents long distance. We also hear from listeners and from Nel Hales, who is still living independently at the age of one hundred.

Out of Winter, published by Hodder and Stoughton was out on the 27th February 2014.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jane Garvey
Interviewed Guest Carol Lee
Producer Lucinda Montefiore

Broadcast

  • Tue 4 Mar 2014 10:00

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