Get Rid of Old Meds
Visit the event website.
If you have old and unused medications stashed around your house — or if your elder parents have them — make a note of the 2012 Take-Back Initiative. It’s sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and coming right up on April 28th (that’s this Saturday). Participants can safely get rid of pills and bottles that are sitting around in medicine chests and kitchen cabinets.
Use this handy site locator to find a location near your home. Note that each site will be open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Download a poster about the event.
Interesting Statistics and Facts
About Other Take Back Events
Golf Carts Drive Off-Course, but Not By Seniors
Why do people who could (and should) be walking spend so much time in golf carts? Our wonderful cottage community is a delightful place to live with amazing and thoughtful people who come from near and far to spend time each summer. I think that it is one of the most pleasantly walkable places on earth. But golf carts, with their dust and fumes and unmonitored speeds, are frustrating, and I’ll state right up front that this problem exists in a lot of places, not just where we vacation.
Don’t get me wrong. If one of my parents, now 83 and 88, had a lot of difficulty walking or became disabled and therefore required a golf cart to move around our little community, I’d rent one in a flash. Moreover, just last week my dad needed an ambulance, and I am grateful that rescue squad volunteers used their golf carts to get to him as fast as possible.
Cultural Changes Wrought By Aging in the ‘Burbs
According to a Washington Post story, If Baby Boomers Stay in Suburbia, Analysts Predict Cultural Shift, the suburbs are already experiencing a huge cultural transition as their populations age. Many locations are already making substantial program and infrastructure changes as they prepare for what will be a wave of graying residents (sometimes referred to as a gray tsunami).
The June 28, 2011 article, by Carol Morello, features an eye-opening graph depicting, by location, the increasing numbers of over-65 residents. Most communities, the article points out, are behind in addressing the issues that result from the increasing numbers of seniors.
Green House Project Conference – Live Streaming
Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Planned Green House
Information about the conference is from the Changing Aging website and more information is available there. Because of continuing interest in the Green House Homes movement, and after posting four Green House Homes pieces, on this blog, I am planning to listen in to these presentations, and you can, too. See the information below.
Begin Section from Website
You can view the conference livestream from The Green House website here. Here’s a schedule for the sessions that will be broadcast live, including Dr. Bill Thomas and panels featuring elders and shahbazim:
September 29th@ 9:00-10:00a EDT
- Elderhood: on Being and Doing,Dr. Bill Thomas, Founder of the Eden Alternative and The Green House Model
September 29th @ 4:15-5:15p EDT
- Elders Rule! Panel of Elders Talk about a Life Worth Living!
September 30th @ 1:30-2:30p EDT
- In a Different Voice,Panel of Shahbazim
As Our Parents Age has published a series of articles on the planning and building of Green House Homes, a concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. The series includes: Green Houses for Older Elders, Replacing a Nursing Community with Green House Homes, Nuts and Bolts of Green House Planning, and Building a Green House Home – The Inside. To learn even more about Green House® Homes go to the web site and request the DVD and/or guide-book.
Dementia: The Problem of Wandering
The May 4, 2010 New York Times features a health article, More With Dementia Wander from Home, focusing on the problems families experience when a family member with dementia wanders and gets lost. The piece explains how a rising number of confused dementia patients are walking away from home, requiring the development of new policing and emergency management techniques. If you are not a regular NYTimes reader, this is a not-to-be-missed article.
Aging Parents: Hospital Acquired Infections
This year alone I know five people who entered the hospital for surgery and then became terribly ill with hospital acquired infections (HAIs), also called nosocomial infections. One person I know had a second HAI after surviving the first one. Is it unusual to know this many people, or is the problem getting worse and worse?
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, recently reported some interesting facts about nosocomial infections. The new statistics in this annual report are scary for anyone spending time in a hospital setting but especially for elderly patients: Read more »
Aging Parents, Dementia, and Driving Safety: New from Neurologists
This past week the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) held its annual meeting in Toronto. At this meeting neurologists revised and updated guidelines about driving and dementia. Adult children and physicians can use the information to help determine if and when an aging parent with dementia should stop driving.
Here is a list of news resources about the new AAN recommendations. Read more »
Aging Parents-Mobility Aids: Thinking About Improved Devices
I’ve written a lot about accidental falls and described my experiences with parents who do not like mobility aids, even when they need to use them. Moreover, I’ve linked to sites that discuss how some mobility devices actually facilitate falls. Some of these posts are linked at the bottom of this page.
Now a class of students at the University of Cincinnati School of Design is thinking about how to improve walkers and canes — how they might look more appealing and function more effectively (safer). Students did all sorts of role playing exercises (see short video toward the middle of the page) to simulate the world of elderly individuals who might be using mobility aides. Read about their project and look at pictures of their designs.
- Press release and description of the student project.
- Slide show of some of the student designs. Note that once a picture appears it is necessary to hover over the image to get the caption.
Other Posts that Discuss Elderly Falling Problems Read more »
Becoming A Grown-up Child
One day in April 2007 my husband and I were the adult kids in our families — we are the only adult children
— and the next day we became what we laughingly call “real grown-ups,” helping first one, then two, and for a while all three of our parents. It’s time to give back, and we do so willingly and happily. However the process is not easy, and it is not free from anxiety and tension. Check out the As Our Parents Age About page to learn more about the mission of this blog.
Copyright and Attribution Info
As Our Parents Age by Marti Weston is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on work at AsOurParentsAge.wordpress.com and AsOurParentsAge.net
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by emailing As Our Parents Age. To learn more about this blog go to the AsYourParentsAge About page.Connect with Marti on LinkedIn
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