This month's cover photo is part of a series, Caregiver / Campanera, in which photographer Rich Beckermeyer documented his mother, Cindy, caring for her parents as they struggled with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Beckermeyer took the cover photo in 2017 during a family gathering at a campsite. The resulting image, he says, was "the perfect combination of camp smoke, afternoon light, and the relationship of a daughter to her mother."
From 2011 to 2017, Cindy worked full time while also acting as her parents' primary caregiver. According to Beckermeyer, Caregiver / Campanera shows "the daily struggle, care, and hope she gives to them both." (Visit http://www.richbeckermeyer.com to see additional photos from the series.)
Approximately 34.2 million Americans care for a family member age 50 or older. In this month's Original Research CE article, Melinda Steis and colleagues studied the experiences of a subset of that group-caregivers of older veterans with cognitive impairment-who sought guidance from a home-based primary care program when their loved one developed new acute symptoms. To learn about their findings, read "New Acute Symptoms in Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: What Should Family Caregivers Do?" and for more on family caregiving, also see this month's editorial, "Family Caregivers and the Decisions They Make."-Diane Szulecki, editor