New: Roadmaps ordered paths through our cheat sheets and flashcards, so you always know what to study next.
Explore themSee what's new on GitHubFrom spotting the first warning signs to running a family caregiving plan that holds up for years.
A 13-step learning path. Follow it in order, or jump to what you need.
For adult children starting to notice their parents need more help, whether or not a crisis has hit yet. It runs about 7 weeks at a few hours a week, moving through the conversations, paperwork, and support systems in the order families usually need them. It does not replace personalized legal or financial advice for your state, and it goes deep on dementia specifically but not other diagnoses like Parkinson's or stroke recovery. By the end you can start the hard conversations, put legal and financial protections in place, and build a family caregiving routine that holds up over years.
No prior experience needed. Start from zero.
Spot the warning signs and the ADL/IADL vocabulary doctors use, before a crisis forces decisions under pressure.
Turn those signs into an actual conversation, with scripts for the driving and money talks parents dread most.
Turn the legal-paperwork sketch from step 1 into signed financial and healthcare power of attorney, while the conversation in step 2 still has your parent's full legal capacity behind it.
You can read the warning signs, start the driving-and-money conversation your parent has been avoiding, and get power of attorney signed while it still counts. Next up: turning that opening into a real plan for paying for care.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Go deeper on the cost numbers step 1 only sketched: run real figures on assisted living, in-home care, and Medicaid's five-year lookback using the power of attorney from step 3.
Untangle what Medicare actually pays for versus the Medicaid coverage you just mapped, so a hospital stay does not blow the budget from step 4.
Expand the fall-prevention basics from step 1 into a full room-by-room plan for grab bars, ramps, and fall alerts, priced against the cost comparisons from step 5.
Build out the respite options step 1 only listed in passing into paid help, adult day programs, and Area Agency resources, so the home upgrades in step 6 are not a burden you carry alone.
You can compare what Medicare, Medicaid, and long-term care insurance actually pay for, turn a cost comparison into real grab bars and ramps, and name people besides yourself who can step in; a quick flashcard review of the legal paperwork from step 3 keeps it fresh while you build the rest of the plan. Next up: the hands-on caregiving skills that don't come naturally to anyone.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
If you are the one sitting in appointments, prep a one-page health summary and question list so a fifteen-minute visit actually gets answers.
Choose this when you are managing care from another city: hire a geriatric care manager and set up remote monitoring so distance does not mean less oversight.
This is where it clicks: stop correcting facts and start meeting the emotional reality behind repeated questions and wandering, and expect to come back to these scripts often.
You can prep for a medical appointment that actually gets answers, keep an eye on care from another city if you need to, and respond to a repeated question or a wandering moment without arguing over facts that no longer register. Next up: the parts of this no one wants to plan for, and making sure they don't wreck you.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Recognize the staging signs from step 10 that mean it is time to bring in hospice, going deeper than step 1's single table on what comfort care looks like in the final weeks.
Facing decline in step 11 is where caregivers usually break: protect your own sleep, therapy, and boundaries now, before burnout forces the issue the way step 1's wellbeing table only warned about.
Fold the legal paperwork, financial plan, and self-care limits from every step before into the family-meeting habit step 1 only touched on, building recurring meetings that outlast any single crisis.
From spotting the first warning signs to running family meetings that divide the work fairly, you can bring in hospice at the right moment, protect your own health so you can keep showing up, and keep a caregiving plan alive for as long as your family needs it: that steady, sustainable system is what the Caring for Aging Parents badge certifies.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Finish every required step, at least 70% of them genuinely done (not skipped), to earn this badge and 500 XP.