Category Archives: Blog

Social Participation for All Ages: Getting the Conversation Started

Hands

With the population of older residents burgeoning in most places around the globe, the divide between young and old seems to be increasing, too. As a result, people on both ends of the age spectrum are left feeling displaced, their needs unmet. In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an ambitious worldwide effort to […]

Caregiving — Taking Care to Survive and Thrive

Climbing a mountain

Caregiving — it may seem like a sprint, but more often it’s a marathon. You don’t want to just survive the whole process, you want to enjoy the journey and thrive through it all. Impossible, you might say? Well, it’s certainly not easy, but taking care of yourself is the key. Your physical, mental and […]

Words That Heal

Broken Heart

Family — it’s a simple concept yet very complicated when it comes to the different relationships within one. Whether it’s past hurts between siblings or between children and their parents, it takes a lot of love and forgiveness to move on and make things better. Emotions run high when our parents are in need. It’s […]

Preserving Their Dignity

Old eyes

Not every senior needs our help in making sure they’re treated with kindness and respect. Some still have a lot of moxie and can take up for themselves. But the older we get and the frailer we become the more some people ignore and discount older people all together. Things are changing but not quickly […]

The Incredible Blessings of Your Parents’ Friends and Neighbors

Neighbors

When you become a caregiver, you’ve never been in more need of people who will have your back. Sometimes we overlook the friends and neighbors that are in our parents’ lives. If your family is fortunate enough to have good friends and neighbors, these are the people you can count on and you should thank […]

Making it a Smooth Transition into Senior Care

Happy female caregiver and senior woman walking together F

Perhaps your family has decided that mom or dad needs more care. It’s probably not something they want but to keep them safe and healthy it’s a necessary choice for many families. I’m sure most families also worry about how their loved ones will settle into an assisted living facility. You can be the difference […]

Listening with Your Heart

Red Phone

As our parents get older it often becomes harder to communicate with them. My parents are now in their 80’s and both are hard of hearing. When I do go over for a visit I find myself having to repeat myself many times. It can become a little frustrating for all of us. That is […]

What Are Your Passions? Share Them with the World!

Every morning during the summer, I wander out to my small vegetable patch. It’s a joy to me to watch everything grow and I love having fresh vegetables from my own dirt. As I bend over the green beans or snap off a few okra pods, I am reminded of my grannies. Both of them […]

Facing the Challenges of Being ‘Gay and Gray’

GLBT Flag

When growing up in New York City, Rochelle Towers says she knew she was “different” from the kids around her. And she also knew she shouldn’t talk about her feelings. As teens are wont to do, she fell in love at age 18, but couldn’t share her joy and giddiness with anyone else. When she […]

Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse in Later Life

For the last decade or so, June has been decreed World Elder Abuse Awareness Month. Falling somewhere midway between National Random Action Month (January) and Fruit and Veggies — More Matters Month (September), the significance of the honorific likely gets lost on most people. But the fact that it exists at all signals a sea […]