Filed under aging parents …

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 →

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 →

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 →

Senior Patient Hospitalization, #5: The ER Worked Fast

If you like this post, please read my Senior Parent Hospitalization posts: Report #1: This Hospital Gets It, Report #2: Peace and Quiet, Report #3: Four Ways to Reduce Stress for Patient Families, Report #4: Observations from My Dad, Report #5: The Emergency Room Worked Fast, and Report #6: Learning About Cardiac Procedures and Surgeries. It was long past … Continue reading →

Can Cuddly Robots Help People with Dementia?

I’ve just read an article, Robot Brings Dementia Patients Out of their Shells, published in the Chicago Tribune on May 18, 2011, by Joseph Ruzich. He reports that some nursing and rehabilitation centers are “using Paro robots from Japan in therapeutic activities with dementia patients.” The author describes how the robots inspire responses and interactions, stimulating individuals who … Continue reading →

Senior Parent Hospitalization Report #2: Peace and Quiet

If you like this post, please read my Senior Parent Hospitalization posts: Report #1: This Hospital Gets It, Report #2: Peace and Quiet, Report #3: Four Ways to Reduce Stress for Patient Families, Report #4: Observations from My Dad, Report #5: The Emergency Room Worked Fast, and Report #6: Learning About Cardiac Procedures and Surgeries. The last time I spent a … Continue reading →