“Imagine that you were unable to communicate with the outside world,” challenges Molly Fisher, former director of Educational and Social Services at the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The Foundation is a nonprofit founded in 2002 by a caregiver whose mother suffered from the disease years ago, when little information was available about it. Initially formed […]
Medical records can be powerful tools in helping to manage healthcare. But people seeking out medical information about themselves or friends and family members often run into a roadblock with a formidable-sounding name: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA. Originally intended to protect the privacy of patients’ personal and medical […]
A five-month study by the Associated Press National Investigative team found quantities of drugs — including antibiotics, sex hormones, and anti-seizure compounds — in the drinking water supplied to more than 40 million residents in 24 major U.S. metropolitan areas. In Philadelphia, for example, investigators found the drinking water contained 565 drugs or byproducts — including […]
Consumers have become less willing to blindly follow the advice of “experts” over the years. We’re more active and activist — taking the initiative to delve into researching everything from the best refrigerators to buy to the best options in big life decisions. And for many people, that includes checking out several different nursing homes […]
Though it happens far too infrequently, it’s a pleasure to behold when seniors are polled and honored for the sagacity they possess. And such is the delight of the recently-released film Lives Well Lived: Celebrating the Secrets, Wit and Wisdom of Age. Promotional materials boast that it’s derived from 40 people, ages 72 to 103 […]
For an entire week, the San Francisco Bay area was recently abuzz with planners and participants attending an innovative program challenging them to rethink their views on living, aging, and dying. Titled “Reimagine,” it featured a series of events drawing on the arts, spirituality, healthcare, and design intended to “break down taboos and bring diverse communities […]
When John Leland bounced onto the stage recently at The Institute on Aging, the crowd of mostly older seniors seemed to greet him with skepticism. He was there to talk about his new book, Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old. “One year? You can’t learn much in that […]
Spurred by speculation that one disease was supplanting all others as the country’s biggest and most intractable health crises, Congress passed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, which was signed into law in January 2011. The Act required: A concrete national plan for overcoming Alzheimer’s Coordinating research and services offered by federal agencies Accelerating development of treatments […]
Most people are now aware of at least some of the more daunting facts about Alzheimer’s disease: An estimated 6.9 million Americans have the disease — a tally estimated to double by the year 2050. Nearly one of five Medicare dollars is spent on people with dementia; that amount is expected to rise to one […]
Former President Harry S. Truman was reportedly the first person to be enrolled in Medicare and to receive the first Medicare card. It was issued to him in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had signed the hard-fought legislation authorizing Medicare into law in July of 1965. Applying for Medicare has since become somewhat of […]