Author: Elaine M. Eshbaugh, PhD

Hey all! I have a request today…I am working on some blog posts about the experiences of loved ones and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have experiences you’d like to share, I want to you hear you. Please click on the following link to help me learn about your lived experiences: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/COVID_19_nursing_home_exp Here’s […]

I have a college student who is working as a gatekeeper. She works at a continuous care retirement community that has an assisted living, nursing home, and memory care community. She doesn’t actually work in any of these areas. She works at the front door in a large reception area featuring a bar, hair salon, […]

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but you are not a bad person. People ask me frequently if they are bad people. I find it strange that anyone would think I had the moral authority to categorize folks as good or bad. Am I bad person because I dread visiting Mom at […]

I have a complicated relationship with living in the moment. I work hard to feel at peace with being in the present, but my brain fights me. I think about the past a lot. Something dumb I said at a meeting a few weeks back. A mistake I made in college. And I think about […]

Hey caregivers: Yes, I am talking to you. Maybe you care for a loved one with dementia at home. Or maybe they are in a nursing home or assisted living–or perhaps in their own home. Maybe they are in the early stages of dementia or maybe they are close to death. Or maybe you don’t […]

Hey everybody! Today I went a different direction…it’s a video blog with a message for my readers!

This is a re-post from five years ago. A couple days ago, Melanie popped into my mind. I haven’t had contact with her in three or so year. I hope she’s in a good place. From August 31, 2015 I’ve written this blog since January. This is my 73rd blog post, which blows my mind. […]

I am doing a series on how COVID is impacting those living with dementia, family caregivers, and professional caregivers. Today I am telling Kelsey’s story. She’s a Gerontology major, and we had a Zoom appointment recently. She’s 20 years old and works as a CNA (certified nursing assistant) at a nursing home. Kelsey is a […]

As I continue to hear stories of individuals living with dementia and their care partners stumbling through the dark during the pandemic, I am at a loss as to how to be supportive. Sometimes people reach out to me. They want to tell me how they related to my blog. They want to tell me […]

I am writing in defense of college students. I know what you’ve heard. They’re entitled brats. They don’t care about anyone but themselves. They’re out at the bars spreading COVID. Sure. That describes some college students. It doesn’t describe the majority. College during COVID isn’t what college is supposed to be. We’ve told our college […]