In an earlier blog entry, we wrote about the forgotten daughters. While these women come from diverse backgrounds, more often than not, they fall into caregiving because they have no other choice. And while caregiving comes from a loving place, it can add stress and become a financial burden. That burden has traditionally fallen on […]
Yes, caregiving is a struggle, but beyond the squabbles, the endless work, the negative emotions, the lack of time for yourself — what you are doing is awesome! Remind yourself daily! So often we focus on the problems associated with caregiving. After all, problems need solving. But in order to live each day with a […]
Bill Thomas was working as a geriatrician in a nursing home in the early 1990s, examining an elderly resident there and treating her for a recurrent skin rash when she changed his thinking and his life by grasping the sleeve of his white coat and telling him what really ailed her: “Doctor, I am so […]
Geriatrician Bill Thomas, who dubs himself a Nursing Home Abolitionist, is no stranger to attempting to rebuild nursing homes from the inside out. As founder of The Eden Alternative, he has helped nudge the hidebound institutional nursing home culture to a model incorporating plants, animals, and children into the daily lives of residents — along […]
Most of us grew up believing the caution: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” In an updated twist, another truism has evolved: There’s no such thing as a free cell phone. Efforts have recently kicked off across the nation to stop a burgeoning horde of scammers set on trying to convince consumers that […]
Joyce Simard began her career as a dementia care specialist almost unwittingly nearly four decades ago. She had logged many early years as what she calls “a real social worker” when it hit hard that the usual rules and regulations care facilities cling to simply don’t work for residents who have Alzheimer’s disease or other […]
A long feature article that was published March 2017 in a newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, about a local geriatrician intent on opening up a medical marijuana dispensary catering to elderly Asian American residents, sparked quite a bit of outrage from readers. It wasn’t the bald statement that “seniors are exactly the population that could […]
Silver Hair on the Silver Screen. In Conversation With Sheila Malkind: Executive Director of the Legacy Film Festival on Aging Sheila Malkind runs the Legacy Film Festival on Aging, the only three-day festival uniquely devoted to films on aging, held annually in San Francisco; it’s now in its seventh year. She took time out from […]
The Transforming Aging Summit, a three-day virtual event held recently, made the heady promise of delivering teachings and practices to inspire listeners to “age with grace and positivity and create a meaningful legacy for generations to come.” Organizers of the event at The Shift Network did not cop a Pollyannish pose when mulling the realities […]
If you’ve ever been involved in creating final arrangements for another person—making decisions about transporting and burying or disposing of the body, choosing a container or casket, planning a service or ceremony—you know there can be a lot of calls and judgments to make at a difficult time. You might also have had the cringe-making […]