Thoughts From Mom to Me As we age, we are treated differently, make no mistake about it, but until I felt it myself, it never rang true. In my professional life, from time to time I observed how people are marginalized – individuals with mental illness, immigrants, international students, people of color. Now, after years … Continue reading
Posted by Marti Weston …
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 … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Chronic Disease Complications on Vacation
What to do when an aging parent becomes ill on a family vacation? With little knowledge about the quality of care in an away-from-home location, even in a place visited for years, double anxiety is the name of the game if a loved-one is taken to the hospital. We faced this issue last weekend when, just … Continue reading
Cooking and Eating on Vacation: Low Sodium Diet, Part V
We are vacationing at our family’s cottage in the North Country of New York state. We have lots of time to cook and eat, and it’s actually been fun to focus a bit more on low-sodium meals. Our relaxed experience here may give us a leg up when we go home to our more crowded … Continue reading
Aging Parents: To Do or Not to Do?
If you are providing minimal aging parent support, but still find yourself in ongoing muddles about whether or not to offer help — or even just take over with a task — check out Paula Span’s NY Times New Old Age blog post today, When to Back Off. Span deftly sums up the adult child’s quandary … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Aging: Ford Makes Font Size Modifications on Dashboards
Ford Motors, surely anticipating aging boomers and wanting to make Ford automobiles as attractive as possible to everyone, has decided to increase the font size on interior display screens. Read, the SmartMoney.com article, Ford to Boomers: Can You Read This Now? The article, by Catey Hill, points out that initially the company is changing font size … Continue reading
5 Lessons Learned About Cutting Back on Sodium: Low-Salt Eating, Part IV
Read other Low Salt Journey installments: Senior Parents Get Started in Their 80′s: Part I, Hospital Cafeterias With No Low-Sodium Options? Part II, Making Sense of Sodium Labels and Numbers: Part III, and 5 Lessons Learned About Cutting Back on Sodium: Low-Salt Eating: Part IV. I’ve already learned five lessons as my husband and I move along, with my parents, on this low-sodium … Continue reading
Low Salt Diet, Part III: Making Sense of Sodium Labels and Numbers
Read other Low Salt Journey installments: Senior Parents Get Started in Their 80′s: Part I, Hospital Cafeterias With No Low-Sodium Options? Part II, Making Sense of Sodium Labels and Numbers: Part III, and 5 Lessons Learned About Cutting Back on Sodium: Low-Salt Eating: Part IV. Are you having trouble understanding the various terms and numbers on sodium labels? We are, too. Here’s the best explanation … Continue reading
Multi-Generational Teams Work Best: Surprise!?
Have you been ever in a work situation where you feel especially old because younger colleagues occasionally roll their eyes or flaunt their up-to-the-minute technology skills? Does this situation make you speak defensively, sometimes making jokes about senior moments or aging? We’ve all been there! Read, Why Multi-Generational Teams Are Best, over at bNet, the CBS … Continue reading
New CMS Video on Medicare Preventive Benefits
Check it out. Read the CMS press release about preventive benefits.
Seniors Getting Started with Computers
Check out Using a Computer for the First Time over at Aging Online. This post describes a Wall Street Journal article about homebound seniors and technology. Here are some blog posts from AsOurParentsAge about seniors and technology. Internet Cafe in Philadelphia Senior Center My Vision for Successful Senior Community Technology Training Technology and Senior Adults
Awesome TED Lecture — Go Dr. Bill Thomas!
Dr. Bill Thomas, known for Changing Aging, Green Housing, and Eden Alternative, as well as his position as a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has just given a TED Talk. Click to learn about TED Talks. Below you can listen to and watch Dr. Bill’s TED presentation, Elderhood Rising: The Dawn of a New … Continue reading
Hospital Cafeterias With No Low-Sodium Options? – Low Sodium Diet, Part II
Read other Low Salt Journey installments: Senior Parents Get Started in Their 80′s: Part I, Hospital Cafeterias With No Low-Sodium Options? Part II, Making Sense of Sodium Labels and Numbers: Part III, and 5 Lessons Learned About Cutting Back on Sodium: Low-Salt Eating: Part IV. Over the past six weeks I have been in four hospital cafeterias with three different friends or family members who … Continue reading
Aging Parents and Facebook: Here We Go Again!
With seniors, including many of our aging parents, actively using Facebook, the social network has tossed yet out another challenge to family members who seek to maintain privacy while still enjoying the social interaction that the social network offers. Adult children take note. Here we go again with facial recognition. Find instructions for disabling the new … Continue reading
Low Sodium Diet, Part I: Senior Parents Get Started in Their 80’s
Read other Low Salt Journey installments: Senior Parents Get Started in Their 80′s: Part I, Hospital Cafeterias With No Low-Sodium Options? Part II, Making Sense of Sodium Labels and Numbers: Part III, and 5 Lessons Learned About Cutting Back on Sodium: Low-Salt Eating: Part IV. My father left the hospital just over two weeks ago, after his heart attack. His discharge instructions directed him to … Continue reading
Medicare Trust Fund Projections: What it All Means to Me
Older Americans and their adult children can be frightened or at least puzzled by the annual reports of the Medicare Trustees. Each year a report makes financial projections for the fund that pays for senior health care expenses (Medicare). Almost every year some politicians spin dire scenarios about the “certain” near bankruptcy of Medicare. The image at … Continue reading
Aging Parents and Atrial Fib
The Kevin MD blog features an interesting post about atrial fibrilliation (afib). The article, Improving Atrial Fibrillation Communication Between Doctors and Patients, provides suggestions that can help improve communication between physicians and patients with diagnosed or suspected afib. Written by Mellanie True Hills, a patient advocate from Texas, the post suggests physician/patient afib do’s and don’ts. Over 18 months, my husband’s … Continue reading
Some Basic Computer Rules for Aging Parents’ Computers
Are you helping to maintain and secure a computer for your aging parent? Do you find yourself spending lots and lots of time explaining why NOT to click on a button or an update screen, even when windows seem to swoop in and personally invite a user to click (or worse download)? Here is an … Continue reading
Senior Parent Hospitalization, Report #6: Learning About Cardiac Procedures and Surgeries
My dad’s recent heart attack turned out to be treatable — still serious, but not as much as first surmised. In the process of various diagnostic physician visits, he (and we) discussed a number of procedures with his doctors including a possible cardiac catheterization. We watched this slide show, A Visual Guide to Heart Disease, at … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 