Caring for an adult child with cognitive disabilities: meeting the dual needs of an adult and child.

A significant proportion of families in the United States provide care for an adult child who has a cognitive impairment. Significant issues may arise in the context of providing this care, including medical concerns, the nature of the relationship between the adult cognitively impaired child and his or her parents, safety concerns in the home, difficulties that the adult child may face in the community, and employment-related issues. We focus, as well on the need to plan for the future through the execution of powers of attorney, living wills, and accessing government benefits for the individual Caregiver stress is also a concern.

The caregiver balancing act: giving too much or not enough.

Although there are many reasons why an individual becomes a caregiver, there are even more ways for a caregiver to suffer "burnout," which can endanger his or her well-being and limit the ability to provide adequate care to another. This article provides a summary of the manner in which an individual may approach caregiving, the reasons for becoming a caregiver, the causes of caregiver fatigue and burnout, and the liability that a caregiver may face if he or she does not provide adequate care. Additionally, this article will discuss federal and state programs to assist caregivers, as well as recommendations for public policies and programs to help caregivers and protect the individuals in need of care.

The importance of planning for the future.

This article explains various mechanisms that are available to plan for the future prior to the development of incapacity. These include powers of attorney, revocable living trusts, advance medical directives such as powers of attorney for health care and living wills, psychiatric advance directives and guardianships and conservatorships. Case examples are utilized to illustrate the consequences of a failure to plan and what can be accomplished through advance planning.