Architect Erick Mikiten ticks off some of the top reasons many people fear growing older: perceived threats of being institutionalized, aging out of relevance, becoming progressively more isolated. And, he …
Continue ReadingRespite Resources for Family Caregivers: The Top 10 Places to Turn for Help
Chances are you may be one of the 66 million family caregivers in the U.S. charged with attending the needs of a loved one — or will join their growing …
Continue ReadingLessons Learned By a Practicing Geriatrician
At a recent lecture titled “Making a Difference to Seriously Ill Older Adults,” Louise C. Walter, Chief of the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California-San Francisco, first answered …
Continue ReadingWait a Minute, Monsieur Postman
“These phone lines are very helpful. I really do appreciate them,” one man told me recently as I was volunteering at the Institute on Aging’s Friendship Line — a national …
Continue ReadingOn Sex & Relationships: Expert Advice for Seniors
You might assume that at the ripening age of “pushing 79,” sex therapist/sex columnist/board-certified sexologist Isadora Alman might be tiring of the topic that’s brought her national notoriety. But it …
Continue ReadingThe Ins & Outs of Long-Term Care Insurance
Long-term insurance — a form of coverage generally intended to help pay for care services that may be needed later in life — has already been both embraced and disgraced …
Continue ReadingMon Ami: Making Friends of Seniors and College Students
Copious studies document that loneliness rates are highest among those who are college-age and seniors. That problem plagued Madeline Dangerfield-Cha and Joy Zhang, who connected as friends just before starting business school …
Continue ReadingHelping Seniors Cope With Pet Loss and Grief
No one gets out alive. So it’s a particularly rich irony that so many people insist on denying death, planning for it, or even mentioning it. But that’s a topic …
Continue ReadingA Mean New Twist to Medicaid: Work Requirements for Caregivers
Many of the nation’s 40 million family caregivers are caught in a bind made worse by state policies requiring them to work a number of hours in paid jobs every …
Continue Reading10 Ways to Lose the Holiday Blues
The fervor sets in around the middle of October, when pumpkins appear, seeming to beg to be carved into jack-o-lanterns and homeowners give in to the newish tradition of putting …
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