The Cyanjel blog
Straight answers to the questions families actually ask us: what home care covers, when it is time, how it gets paid for in Pennsylvania, and how to raise it with someone who does not want help.

How Community HealthChoices Works for Family Caregivers in Allegheny County
The two eligibility tests, the seven steps in order, where a family caregiver fits, and the programs families confuse with CHC. Written…

Sleep Changes in Later Life, and What Helps
Some of what changes with age is normal and some of it is a treatable problem being ignored. Telling them apart is…

When Appetite Disappears in Later Life
A parent who has stopped eating properly is rarely being difficult. There is usually a specific reason, and most of them have…

Sundowning: Why Late Afternoon Is Harder
Confusion and agitation that arrive with the light going are a recognized pattern. What tends to drive it, and the practical changes…

Talking to Someone Whose Memory Is Going
Most of what goes wrong in these conversations comes from correcting, quizzing and asking open questions. What to do instead, and why…

Early Dementia at Home: What Tends to Change First
The early signs are rarely about forgetting. They are about judgment, sequence and withdrawal, and several conditions that look identical are treatable.

When a Pittsburgh Winter Traps Someone Indoors
Four months of ice on a hillside street does something specific to an older person living alone. What actually changes, and what…

Getting Around Allegheny County Without Driving
Four separate systems, each with its own rules, and most families only ever hear about one. What exists here, who qualifies, and…
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