When it comes to choosing where to live as we age, the world seems to be divided into two camps: those who swear they want to be carried out of …
Continue ReadingThe Look and Feel of Downsizing
Ambiguous Loss: Mourning a Loved One Who’s Still Alive
My friend Jack texted me the link to the same article three times in two days — his brain addled by a combination of lack of sleep and the stress …
Continue ReadingA Decade of the Affordable Care Act: Has It Helped Seniors?
Nearly a decade after it was passed, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) — also glowingly or disparagingly referred to as “Obamacare,” depending on a person’s politics — …
Continue ReadingThe Age-In: A Flashback in Learning About Aging
The Age-In. It was something of a flashback — modeled after the Teach-Ins of the 1960s, which were characterized by peer-to-peer talking and listening sessions rather than the more formalized …
Continue ReadingWhat the Experts Don’t Tell You: Tried & True Tips for Dealing With Dementia
There is no shortage of advice these days about how to deal with the “problem behavior” of people who have dementia, many of whom get more resistant as their conditions …
Continue ReadingTruths and Tips About Opioids and Older People
Old age is getting younger. For the second year in a row, the life expectancy in the United States declined according to a recent bleak series of reports by various …
Continue ReadingHelping Your House Age Along With You
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 Reading