When Roles Reverse: A Guide to Parenting Your Parents »

Jim Comer went from no involvement in running his parents' lives to complete control over their affairs after his father suffered a massive stroke and his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Determined to get his mother closer to him and his father's hospital, he told her they were going for ice cream, and they drove away from her home of thirty-four years as if going on an errand. What to do with their house and fifty-five years of mementos? How to figure out their finances? When Roles Reverse merges Jim's warm, often humorous, story with practical advice and well-researched resources to create an indispensable guide for anyone faced with caring for aging parents, relatives, or friends. When Roles Reverse helps the reader make sound decisions and avoid disasters regarding Medicaid, Medicaid Waivers, community-based alternatives, geriatric care managers, elder law, long-term care specialists, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, hospice, veteran's affairs, and Medicare. It provides a state-by-state resource list including departments of insurance, state health insurance assistance programs, and state agencies on aging, with addresses, phone and fax numbers, and web sites. An additional bonus is a 50-question section designed to help families break through their denial and gather necessary information. Jim Comer has appeared on The Today Show, written jokes for Bob Hope and Joan Rivers, and worked as a speech coach and creative consultant for Fortune 500 companies for twenty years.