What is a Nursing Home? A nursing home is a facility—staffed with skilled nurses and health-care aides—where people can receive medical attention on a 24-hour basis. The patients do not need intensive hospital care, but they cannot be cared for at home. Some nursing homes do resemble a hospital with a medical staff that gives […]

Many terms come to mind when an older worker loses a job — none of them pleasant: “put out to pasture,” “given the squeeze,” “aged out,”  “consigned to the scrap heap.” And losing a job later in life may seem especially fraught now that the gleam of The Golden Retirement Years has faded for older […]

I don’t have any amazing talents to hand down to my children and grandchildren. That’s okay. I still have passions that I just love to share. How about you? From one generation to the next, it used to be a given that the mama would teach her daughter to cook and sew. The daddy would […]

“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 […]

Timing is everything when it comes to life. We need to be aware of our own optimal timing as well as what timing suits our older loved one. We also have to be flexible both with ourselves and with our seniors. Are you a morning person? Or do you like to sleep late and be […]

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 […]

When I worked in a memory care community, it gave me a unique perspective to see the issues those with dementia face on a daily basis. When a senior first moves into a new environment, it’s probably the most stress they’ve encountered in a long, long while. Getting used to a new room where they […]

My mama always told me, “You never leave someone in the hospital without being there.” That advice rang true when I heard from a friend how her husband was treated after surgery. It’s not the only time I’ve heard horror stories about what was done while the family was away. Forcing Hospitals to Be Accountable […]

For over thirty years, my parents have been the proud owners of a two-acre homestead. They bought it in their 50s when they were still able to tackle almost anything. Now in their 80s the story is quite different. Are your parents getting to an age where taking care of their home has become too […]

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 […]