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The Friendship Line: A Lifeline for Lonely Seniors
A soft-voiced man with kind eyes and an impeccably trimmed white beard, Patrick Arbore is Director and Founder of the Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention & Grief Related Services, now housed within the Institute on Aging in San Francisco. Back in 1973, he also founded the Friendship Line, which now also operates out of the […]
The Need to be Useful
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 […]
Tunnel Vision and the Dilemma of Stranded Caregivers
We’re all a little self-centered until we become the caregiver to an older loved one. Suddenly we have so much to think about, to do and to plan for, that everything else goes straight to the back burner. Life changes dramatically. We no longer have time for friends, to attend events we’d usually never miss […]
Help With Letting Go of Life’s Regrets
As a longtime counselor with the Institute on Aging’s Friendship Line, the country’s only accredited crisis intervention line and warmline focused on callers age 60 and older, I listen to and talk with dozens of callers each week—many of them anxious, distressed, in crisis, or depressed. It’s a volunteer gig, and understandably, not everyone’s bag […]
When Their Independence Threatens Their Life
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 […]
Baby its Getting Cold – Wrap ‘em Up!
The fall weather brings cooler temperatures and while you the caregiver may welcome a little chill, your older loved one may be downright uncomfortable. There are a number of issues to consider as the weather turns colder. Keep in mind older bodies need a little more care. Get Out the Blankets, Throws and Sweaters Even […]
A Look at Loneliness—And Steps to Prevent It
Everyone feels lonely sometimes. But when the feeling persists as a chronic or acute state of being, it can easily morph into clinical depression and suicidal ideation—especially among older people. From poets to professors, many have tried to describe and define loneliness. Harry Stack Sullivan, a 20th century psychiatrist whose studies focused on interpersonal relationships, […]
File It Then Share It: Keep Your Vital Information Updated and Accessible
Everyone has a filing system of some sort for important documents and papers. Yours may be carefully organized by subject matter in drawers or folders, or it may simply be in piles on the desk or, more likely, on the floor. It may look systematic or totally disorganized, but either way you usually know exactly […]
What To Do When Dad’s Memory is Bad But He Refuses To See a Doctor
