Managing Family Conflict About End-of-Life Decisions
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Only one-third of Americans have filled out an advance directive to let family members know what care they do or don’t want in the event they are unable to speak for themselves. That leaves many adult children to guess about what an aging parent with severe dementia would want–opening the door for intense debate and even fighting among those siblings. In this highly interactive workshop with psychologist Barry J. Jacobs, Psy.D., co-author of The AARP Caregiver Answer Book, we will talk about the importance of advance directives but also how adult children can draw upon their parent’s beliefs and values to make the right decision for them. Case illustrations will be used throughout.
Date April 21, 2026
Hosted By WellMed Charitable Foundation
Time of Event 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm CST
Tags Barry J. Jacobs, caregiver, funeral, family dynamics, Support, caregiving, Communication, caregivers, death, elderly, Aging, family, Grief, seniors, Barry, Care Planning Public and Private Benefits, Jacobs, Health and Wellness
Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD
Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and a healthcare consultant. A former magazine journalist, he is the author of The Emotional Survival Guide for Caregivers: Looking After Yourself and Your Family While Helping an Aging Parent (Guilford, 2006) and coauthor with his wife, Julia L. Mayer, PsyD, of AARP Meditations for Caregivers: Practical, Emotional, and Spiritual Support for You and Your Family (Hachette, 2016), AARP Love and Meaning After 50: The 10 Challenges to Great Relationships—and How to Overcome Them (Hachette, 2020), and The AARP Caregiver Answer Book (Guilford, 2025). He has also written a self-help column for caregivers for AARP.org since 2013. A board member of the Caregiver Action Network, a national family caregiver advocacy and support organization, and a former director of behavioral sciences for the Crozer Health Family Medicine Residency, he maintains a psychotherapy practice in Media, Pennsylvania, specializing in supporting individuals with chronic and serious illness and their caregivers. For seven years, he was the primary caregiver for his stepfather with Alzheimer’s disease and mother with vascular dementia.