I'm a long-term-care nurse. Navigating my dad's dementia care and the $7,700 monthly cost still overwhelmed me.
A long-term-care nurse shares her personal experience navigating the high costs and emotional toll of managing her father's advanced dementia care. The essay highlights the systemic financial challenges families face when securing memory care facilities.
Why it matters
It sheds light on the 'sandwich generation' crisis and the prohibitive costs of elder care in the United States.
Tasha Crouse has cared for her father with dementia for years. Tasha Crouse Tasha Crouse, 55, manages her father's dementia care from Wisconsin and Colorado. Crouse's father, 84, diagnosed with advanced dementia, resides in a costly memory care facility. Facing her father's decline, Crouse is planning her own long-term care and financial arrangements. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tasha Crouse, 55, who is caring for her father with dementia. She lives in Wisconsin but frequently visits her father, who is in a memory care facility in Colorado. Crouse became his conservator as his condition worsened. Crouse's lawyer and fiduciary confirmed details of the conservatorship agreement . This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Both of my parents are from the UK. They got married and moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I grew up.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in