Last weekend I visited my dad, and we had only a bit of time to enjoy the iPad together. However, quite by accident we started playing with the map application. I turned on the location part of the map program and then showed my father how look over maps of his neighborhood and town. Next … Continue reading
Posted by Marti Weston …
Senior Falls: Different Types – Different Interventions
If you have aging parents who fall — and most of us have some experience with parent falls — read the article about senior falling in the September 9, 2010 Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. On its website (not active in January 2012) , the Mobilize Boston Study organization that conducted the research states that, “The purpose of the … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Languages, Dementia, and the Resilient Brain
Read a Wall Street Journal article that describes how people who speak multiple languages appear to have brains that resist some of the early symptoms and brain damage of dementia. The article, Building a More Resilient Brain, describes how a concept called cognitive reserve, often well-developed in bilingual individuals, may enable the brain to continue working even … Continue reading
Guest Post: Adult Child Develops iPad Apps for Senior Mom
Paul Rhoades is an adult child and a subscriber to As Our Parents Age. He keeps an eye on his 90-year-old mother and has introduced her to the iPad. I’ve looked at his apps, developed to help her use the iPad more effectively, but I have not been anywhere near my dad’s iPad so I have not … Continue reading
Aging Parents Working? Boomers Will Work Even More
Read 10 Reasons Seniors Continue to Work, in Us News and World Report. While earning money is the top reason people continue to work, the October 7, 2010 article points out that other reasons, such as staying intellectually sharp and keeping active are significant. Interesting to me is reporter Philip Moeller’s comment, “If work isn’t … Continue reading
Aging Parents Aging Feet
Sometimes an interesting article from the past pops up on the radar with information that is just as relevant today as when it when it appeared a few years ago. Today I discovered an article about aging and foot health, published in January 2007, and I wish that I had read it when it originally came … Continue reading
Internet Cafe in Philly Senior Center
A senior center in Philadelphia recently used United States Recovery Funds to renovate its dining room, make it green friendly, and add an Internet cafe with connected laptops. Lots of enthusiastic elders, who have been enjoying meals for years, are thrilled with the new dining facilities and eager to connect. Tutoring will be available for … Continue reading
Seniors Go Places-So Get With the Accessibility Program
For a few weeks I’ve been seething about disgraceful treatment of an elderly senior friend at a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery. Now, Dale Carter’s October 5, 2010 post over at Transition Aging Parents has encouraged me to share my frustrating experience. After an elderly colleague died, many of us gathered at Arlington National … Continue reading
Wages Going Down-Will Children and Grandchildren Have Social Security?
Commentary by Robert Reich, Lower Wages Won’t Lead to Recovery, on NPR’s Marketplace radio program. I wonder how different the world is becoming for seniors’ children and grandchildren? Lower wages mean lower or no benefits. It was all so simple in the growth-fueled years of our aging parent’s middle years, but now it’s not so simple. … Continue reading
Aging Parents: AD8 – More Effective Alzheimer’s Screening
E-Max Health reports on an article, Relationship of Dementia Screening Tests with Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease (abstract), published online by the journal Brain. The October 10, 2010 article is free, but to get the text file it’s necessary to sign up for a login name and password at the journal website. In a longitudinal study … Continue reading
Extraordinary PBS Interview on Caregiving – Dr. Arthur Kleinman
In Caregiving: Feelings and Emotions I described several commentaries,written by Arthur Kleinman, MD, a psychiatrist and professor at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kleinman wrote about providing care for his wife, Joan. The post explained: Dr. Kleinman, a caregiver for his wife, Joan, who has Alzheimer’s disease, writes eloquently about the emotions, the … Continue reading
Green Houses? So Why Not Green Hospitals? …and Free Wireless, too
Here’s an interesting article, Crown Sky Garden Grows at New Children’s Hospital. It describes how a hospital in Chicago is trying to be green, emphasizing wellness over sickness and open, airy, and calm spaces without noises and incessant interruptions. The sky garden sounds amazing, and I hope this hospital administration can translate the peacefulness of … Continue reading
The Unexpected Caregiver
Check out the radio program, The Unexpected Caregiver, broadcast on KYMN Radio in Northfield, Minnesota. Host Kari Berit and her guests discuss caregiving, communication, health, medical information, and other critical issues that arise when adult children help aging parents. I listened to the program with Connie Goldman, the program on the dangers of denying our … Continue reading
Green House Project Conference – Live Streaming
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 … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #15: Amazing Shared Memories
If a goal of the iPad is to connect people and media, that is what now happens between my dad and me. His iPad has added unexpected and pleasurable reading to my day as he sends, via e-mail, memories, reminiscences, and musings. This virtual interaction, so different from the other ways we connect with each … Continue reading
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Lately continuing care retirement communities (CCRC’s) are in the news. Confusing information abounds, and it can be worrisome for anyone who is in the process of choosing a CCRC, as well as for aging parents who already live in a community. In the last two months (August – September 2010) The New York Times and Wall … Continue reading
Physical Capability and Aging
Research published on September 10, 2010 by British Medical Journal (BMJ), Objectively Measured Physical Capability Levels and Mortality: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, re-examined a range of published studies that looked at the physical capabilities of older adults. Conducting a meta-analysis, which is a statistical method for examining multiple studies and pooling the results, researchers reviewed results … Continue reading
Are We Ever Old?
Just when do we become old? Carolyn Rosenblatt, in her Aging Parents blog over at Forbes, asks this question. Months ago I wrote a post, Aging Parents: Bodies Slower but Same World View, describing how my 90-year-old grandmother giggled like a schoolgirl when good-looking men strolled by on the boardwalk. The view from her eyes … Continue reading
More Info on Falling – Aging in Place Tech Watch
As Our Parents Age has posted many pieces on seniors and falling — a topic near and dear after two of our senior parents fell numerous times in their later years. Over at Aging in Place Technology Watch, Laurie Orlof posted comments and thoughts about senior falls on September 12, 2010. She also reviewed some recent research, … Continue reading
Check out the “Be the Noodle” Review
While I was intently focused on my Green House posts last week, Inside Aging Parent Care posted a terrific review of Be TheNoodle by Lois Kelly. What I love about this book is the noodle support metaphor. When the summer waters are rough in my beloved St. Lawrence River, a noodle is just the ticket … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 