Most of our lives we’ve looked to our parents for advice and answers to questions. Now we’re the ones having to come up with the solutions. It happened gradually. I think it started around the time my parents hit their 70s. The phone started ringing every day. Don’t get me wrong. I love talking to […]

Want to make every day special for your older loved one and for you? Well start enjoying an afternoon tea time and make it a time to look forward to each day. So many of our lives are filled with work, hurried meals, appointments to keep and chores to get done that we don’t stop […]

Let’s face it, food is one of the daily pleasures of life. Just ask your older loved one! If you doubt that, you must not be a fan of the Food Network or Cook. Now who doesn’t like to visit with the Pioneer Woman, Ina Garten or Rachel Ray? Chances are your mom or dad […]

Yesterday the nation heard about the eight frail elderly people who perished from heat exhaustion and dehydration. They had survived the hurricane and their care facility was right next door to a huge hospital, yet it seems that no one checked on them, at least not anyone who helped. What Went Wrong? It was reported […]

No one wants to identify as being a person without a purpose — useless, worthless, aimless, an accidental traveler through life. But searching for purpose sounds like a lot of work. Or something that only happens on the west coast. Or perhaps something only a younger person would do. In fact, past studies of the […]

“Once you hit 80, it’s all about changes,” said my mother on the phone to me just yesterday. She wasn’t talking about pleasant changes. While every age involves changes, Mama’s right. She and Daddy have seen a lot of changes in just a little time. Last week the doctor gave my daddy a cane and […]

Like most other states in the U.S., the diminutive state of Delaware is facing a groundswell in its older population, which carries with it a growth in the demand for specialized senior services. There are currently around 22,000  Delawareans 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. They are assisted by 31,000 family […]

For people with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, one of the biggest challenges is keeping up with the private and essential activities of daily living — including bathing, eating, and dressing. Of these, perhaps surprisingly, dressing can be the most difficult. The act is fraught with possible complications that become more difficult as […]

“Intergenerational” has become the polysyllabic buzzword of the age. The theory goes that if only young and old people spent more time together, they would all suddenly switch to living harmoniously. But there’s one thing that often gets in the way: They don’t like each other. That truth came to the fore recently when preparing […]

One of the first and largest studies to address the growing challenge of making and keeping communities age-friendly was launched just over a decade ago—an ambitious worldwide effort spurred by the World Health Organization (WHO). The initiative helped identify eight key areas communities must address: outdoor spaces and buildings transportation housing social participation respect and […]