Author Archives: Karen Everett Watson

About Karen Everett Watson

Karen Everett Watson is a gerontologist and a freelance blogger/journalist. Her parents, grown children and 10 grandchildren keep her busy learning about life while living in the Sacramento Valley with her chickens and dogs.

Senior Grazing – Through the Food Trucks!

Delicious sandwiches on street fast food showcase.

For a change of pace, senior communities are inviting local food trucks to tickle the taste buds of their senior residents. It’s a break from the formal styles of most senior dining rooms and a chance to eat ethnic foods that so many seniors love. No matter how good the chef is at your assisted […]

Twiddle the Anxiety Away

Twiddle the Anxiety Away

If your loved one has dementia, you’ve probably seen how anxious they become, especially during the later afternoons and evenings. Sundowning is a term used to explain how dementia patients become nervous and anxious once the sun starts going down. Some very crafty ladies in Canada and the United Kingdom found a way to help […]

The Three A’s for Happiness and Health

Senior African American Couple Jogging In Park

My parents are living examples on how to age successfully. I learned a lot at the university about aging but it can’t compare to what my parents have taught me. Early on they led by example. They taught me, and are still teaching me, to have a good attitude, to be adaptable and to stay […]

The Need to be Useful

Barbershop

Last week my father retired — again! The first time he retired, he was in his 60s, but he just couldn’t stay away from his little Barber Shop on the edge of Stockton, California, so he went back to working just one day a week — on Tuesdays. He missed his customers and his fellow […]

Shots for Health – Surviving the Flu Season

Shots for Health – Surviving the Flu Season

Health issues get more complicated the older we get and it’s especially true when you’re talking about the flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly encourages people 65 and older to get their flu shots each and every year. The CDC estimates up to 70 percent of all hospitalizations due to […]

When Their Independence Threatens Their Life

Mature Woman indoors using the phone

Our elders are fiercely independent — that’s a fact. Poll after poll finds that nearly all older adults want to stay in their homes until the very end. So many factors threaten their ability to continue living independently. No one truly anticipates getting dementia, becoming immobile or fighting a life-threatening disease, but the older we […]