Since we’ve been helping our parents with various tasks, we are keenly aware that some products might as well have the words AGING (or aged) etched into them. Since I avidly read posts from the MIT Age Lab, AgeTek, Laurie Orlov’s Aging in Place Technology Watch, and Eric Dishman, I know that new products aimed exclusively at “old people” … Continue reading
Filed under Ageism …
Our Aging Parents: Looking Out With the Same Eyes …
On Sundays I love to read the longer wedding stories that appear in The New York Times and the Washington Post. The Times story on Dorothy Furlong, age 75, and Charlie Hall, age 80, caught my eye for a number of reasons, not the least of them being the opportunity to read wonderful and romantic late-in-life … Continue reading
Banishing the Myths of Aging
The University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging has a superb website, filled with information and resources on aging and supplemented with links that can help people solve problems and better understand medical conditions. The site is easy for seniors, families, and caregivers to navigate. Many of the resources are Pennsylvania specific, however others, like the … Continue reading
Seeking Better Things to Buy as We Age…
A must-read article, In A Graying Population, Business Opportunity, appeared in the February 5, 2011 New York Times. Reporter Natasha Singer describes her visit to the MIT Age Lab as well as her experience wearing the Age Gain Now Empathy System (listen to an NPR system about these special suits), and she writes about the need for … Continue reading
Media Literacy and Seniors: Repetitive Ads Construct Reality
Many people say they pay no attention to advertisements. However, television watchers, especially seniors, are continuously exposed to questionable advertising selling medications, insurance, political issues, and doubt about Medicare. Content grows more and more familiar as ads repeat over and over each day — first creating questions, then worry or doubt. Though viewers feel like … Continue reading
Seniors’ Bank Cards: Stop Switching Them!
Three times in the last 12 months my mother has received a phone call from her bank credit card company telling her she has a wonderful opportunity to receive a new card. Three times she’s been made to feel like she has to do it. So suddenly Mom has a new card, a new number, … Continue reading
Green Houses for Older Elders: Part I
The Boston Globe published a terrific article, A ‘Green House’ in Chelsea Provides Skilled or Elder Care on a Family-like Site, about Green Housing for the elderly, describing newly a constructed community in the Chelsea section of Boston. According to the August 30, 2010 article by Kay Lazar, the new housing provides “alternatives to traditional institutional care … Continue reading
Seniors Embrace Social Networking According to Pew
If this post interests you, be sure and read Yes, Grandma is on Facebook, a post from a few days ago. The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project published a new study about seniors and social networking. According to Mary Madden, the report’s author, “Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of … Continue reading
Senior Parents: What a Difference a Word Makes
Words matter, especially words that describe people who are aging. In every day conversation, disrespectful phrases such as “old people” or “old folks,” are commonly used. My parents and many of their friends detest these comments. This week I listened to a podcast of a panel discussion, produced by a well-known media outlet, and buried … Continue reading
Mom and Me: Thoughts on Marginalization and Aging
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 in … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 