Squabbling siblings can complicate late-life care for mom and dad

Squabbling siblings can complicate late-life care for mom and dad

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For every older person living in a residential care facility, three are cared for primarily by their families. (Flickr/Rosie O'Beirne)

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Making late-life care decisions for elderly parents is never easy—but when siblings disagree, the task can seem, at times, impossible. And when sibling rivalries loom, caring for Mom and Dad becomes complicated—and ugly—quick. Celia Berdes with Northwestern University’s Buehler Center on Aging, Health and Society, explains how adult children navigate end-of-life care for their parents. Geriatrician Jerald Winakur, author of the book Memory Lessons: A Doctor’s Story, describes his struggle to look after his father with dementia.