Updated September 2025 Do you ever forget the name of a song or your favorite restaurant? Have you ever been driving down the street and momentarily forgot where you were going? We all forget things and, in most cases, for very innocent reasons. We are multi-tasking, distracted, or having a stressful day. While all of […]
Updated January 2026 Let’s talk about sunshine and the incredible role that it plays in our well-being. Older adults, particularly nursing home residents, tend to get less of it than younger adults, but everyone needs it and many of us don’t get enough of it. While sun exposure has its risks, such as skin cancer, […]
Drug misuse among seniors has become an “invisible epidemic,” or so the government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration believes. No one really knows how serious this epidemic has become, despite all the surveys and studies conducted by various government agencies and research organizations, and with good reason. Seniors use lots of drugs, probably […]
One of the things I’ve heard said (and I often jokingly say myself) is that having children is a convenient excuse for getting to have a second childhood, to relive one’s youth. This was most definitely a phenomenon that came true at a Halloween Eve party several years back. I had been invited to my […]
Updated November 2025 In a previous post, I spoke about behavior management problems in dementia (also known as ‘behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia,’ or BPSD for short) and talked about both the underlying causes of behavior management issues, and the problems posed by relying on medication management. I also said that I would spend […]
Updated November 2025 At the nursing home where I work, approximately 50% of the residents have some form of diagnosable dementia (which is now referred to as ‘major neurocognitive disorder’ in the current version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Typically, it’s one of the two most common forms […]
Physical exercise is recommended for everybody, but perhaps no group of people is as positively affected by a physical activity plan as senior citizens. As the individual progressively ages, the role of maintaining physical, mental, and spiritual well-being becomes more important to their quality of life. Let’s take a look at the different ways in […]
Pet owners, on the whole, are deeply attached to their pets. The owner values the emotional bond and the positive contribution to their wellness, such as having lower blood pressure and cholesterol, reducing stress, and combating isolation and boredom. That said, purchasing a pet – especially for an elderly loved one –should not be a […]