Updated October 2025 For decades, Americans were told that alcohol consumption has both risks and benefits. One risk comes from the addictive properties of alcohol. In addition to the risk of becoming an alcoholic and the impact that addiction has on mental health, excessive alcohol consumption can cause liver failure, heart disease, pancreatitis, and other […]

This is a true story. The names are changed and the author, the daughter, chooses to remain anonymous. It happened many years ago, but the issues remain the same. At 72, Joan was an intelligent, accomplished woman who had suffered a stroke. She had trouble communicating, which frustrated her, but otherwise she was doing well. […]

The definition of family has been evolving for some time. In 1950, “nuclear” families, two-parent families with children, headed 78% of the nation’s households.1 The United States was primarily a Father Knows Best nation. As a result of the increase in divorce, separation, death, and live-in partners, today’s norm is a “blended” family, defined as […]

Updated July 2025 Technology hasn’t managed to replace hugs and smiles–yet–but technology has made a huge difference in the lives of seniors, their families, and their caregivers. Tech for Aging is Here–and More is Coming With today’s technology, it is now possible to detect falls and summon immediate help, locate wandering seniors or lost keys […]

My understanding is that there’s a lot of questions out there as to how to handle the holidays with their older loved ones, particularly ones who have suffered recent losses. Perhaps it’s your loved ones’ first time away from home (because they’ve recently been placed in a long term care facility), or, perhaps if this […]

For many people, retirement is one of those things that has always been on the horizon at just enough distance not to warrant any real concern related to what to do about it in practical day to day terms. That is, until the horizon is upon us and the more pragmatic aspects of the retirement […]

If your aging parents are a bit leery about using today’s technology, call in the grandchildren. Even the youngest ones seem to intuit how to use smart phones and tablets, search for and download apps, and have mastered the Internet.  And they no doubt can show their grandparents how to use a fitness tracker or […]

Updated September 2025 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about two-thirds of people between the ages of 55 and 64 participated in the American labor force in 2024, while almost one-in-five people over the age of 65 did so. Excluding a couple of pandemic years, the percentage of the labor force that is 65 […]

Elderly Social Security recipients are easy prey for scammers, as headlines remind regularly. Whether through a sweet-talking individual who claims to be from the Social Security Administration or the response to an authentic-looking email that looks like it is from the Social Security Administration, once a scammer gets the beneficiary’s information, the trouble begins. With […]