Lots of people may want to work at improving their diabetes risk factors if an article from TimeHealthland.com is any indication. The Health and Medical Resources blog excerpts the Time article and also features some extraordinary graphic visualizations (the prevalence of cases in various countries) from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Atlas sixth edition. Diabetes has increased across the globe, and it’s no … Continue reading
Filed under aging parents …
A Workplace Counters Ageism – National Institutes of Health
Last Thursday, on the Washington DC Metro, a woman sitting in front of me spoke to a seat mate about ageism, a term first coined by Dr. Robert Butler, the first director of the National Institute of Aging (NIA). As I eavesdropped, the woman on the Metro spoke about comments from younger colleagues, the tendency … Continue reading
Great Green House Homes Article in Mass General Hospital Publication
An in-depth article about the Green House Home model appeared in the Fall 2013 edition of Proto Magazine, a publication of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. The article, The New Nursing Home, by Cathryn Delude, describes the Green House model at the Leonard Florence Center for Living in Chelsea, MA. The report also goes … Continue reading
Life Expectancy Growth in the U.S. – Slowing Down
When I read the article Americans Fall Behind in the Getting Older Race at National Public Radio (NPR), I was impressed by the graphics — and how easy they were to understand — so I decided to share one or two of them here at As Our Parents Age, along with more information about the report that … Continue reading
Time for a New iPad for Dad — iPad for Dad #24
It is time to purchase a new iPad for my father. If you have followed this blog for the past several years you know that three years ago we (my husband, my daughter, my son-in-law, and me) purchased an iPad for my father’s birthday. The iPad for Dad project, beginning in May 2010, has been an … Continue reading
Senior Moment or Alzheimer’s?
As the adult children of aging parents most of us are used to hearing friends and colleagues make the “senior moment” comment. Often when a person over 45 or so has difficulty remembering something, he or she will comment, “…oops, I’m having a senior moment.” I began noticing this in my late 40′s and now, … Continue reading
Scams Aimed at Boomers, Too
Although we worry most about scams aimed at aging parents, adult children need to be sure that they, too, have the wherewithal to avoid victimization. Check out the blog feature Top Scams Targeting Baby Boomers During the Government Shutdown over at EmaxHealth, an independent health news organization. The post, by Kathleen Blanchard, details some of the creative ways that … Continue reading
Aging Does Not Automatically Degrade Decision Making Skills
An aspect of ageism is how many people seem to believe that seniors make poorer decisions as soon as they begin to age. According to a recent study described in a Health Day article at Medline Plus, older adults performed decision-making tasks just as well if not better than younger people. Participants ranged from age 18 … Continue reading
Wireless: A Primer for the Rest of Us (Including Aging Parents)
When we install wireless access in our homes or in the home of aging parents, it’s common for most of us to use it intensively while understanding few of the details about the equipment and how various components work. We usually know when it’s not working, but that’s about it. Bottom line? We should all learn … Continue reading
Grandfather First Refused Medicare Because of Scare Tactics and Misinformation
It’s funny how changes in health care policy seem to generate anxiety, anger, and all sorts of misinformation in the United States. Well, actually it’s not so funny. How is it that so few people can scare so many others when it comes to keeping many more people healthy? But that describes what has happened … Continue reading
End of Life Choices
In June 2010 I read a chilling New York Times Magazine article, What Broke My Father’s Heart, by Katy Butler, who described how her father’s heart outlived his brain because a pacemaker kept chugging along. It kept going despite that the rest of his body, due to dementia, was giving up and shutting down. Butler … Continue reading
Do We Owe Our Parents?
I’ve just finished reading an interesting article, What Do We “Owe” Our Parents?, over on Next Avenue. In the September 12, 2013 online article author Suzanne Gerber discusses the motivations of adult children when it comes to aging parents and caregiving roles and describes a nationwide on-line survey conducted for More magazine, a publication aimed at mature … Continue reading
IADLs: Juggling Instrumental Activities of Daily Living in Middle Age
I’ve had some new insights about the instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), the activities that we do each day that allow us to maintain an independent life. These tasks include things like driving, balancing a checkbook, cooking, and using the computer. From my perspective, after working with a parent who was ill with stroke-induced … Continue reading
AARP: How Much Communication Is Too Much Communication?
When I joined AARP last year, it was after years of watching my parents and my husband’s parents talk about articles, magazines, and discounts. Sure enough, after paying that $12 membership fee, my husband purchased new glasses and they took $27 off when we flashed the AARP card. Since then I’ve used it for quite … Continue reading
New Theme on As Our Parents Age
A new theme has arrived and perhaps some layout changes are coming to As Our Parents Age. Please stay tuned and let me know what you think about the changes. I am not absolutely certain about the colors, but today I activated the Able theme and I’ll be thinking a lot about color over the … Continue reading
Building Up Bones to Build Up Protection
While my mother exercises five or six times a week walking and swimming, a year or so ago she was told at her wellness center that she needs to do more to build up her bones and keep them strong. So mom uses weights a couple of times a week as well as balance training. I … Continue reading
Green House Homes Featured on NPR
In case you missed it, listen to this terrific All Things Considered segment, Move Over Nursing Homes — There’s Something Different. The July 23, 2013 radio story describes a visit to a Green House community in Baltimore and features Dr. Bill Thomas, the geriatrician who created the concept of elder care communities that help residents … Continue reading
Detached Retina Problems Still – A Marathon, Not a Sprint
I first began writing about detached retinas here on As Our Parents Age because I found few, if any, blog posts that described the experience objectively and without what I call the “poor-little-old-me” perspective. I also thought that these eye problems had to do mostly with aging, a pertinent topic on this blog. Who knew, … Continue reading
Should Physicians Ask Fragile Elders About Guns in Their Homes?
Some time ago I read a newspaper article written by an elderly man who was caring for his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease. He was doing much of her care at home, and his article spoke of their history, how they had met, his family, and much more about their life together. He was sad … Continue reading
iPads for Seniors? My Dad Knows How Cool It Is!
iPads for seniors as a way to decrease isolation and stimulate intellectual curiosity? You bet! After writing over 20 iPad for Dad columns about my dad and his iPad, I could have told them so and my dad can, too. I know that Steve Jobs was not thinking about seniors in the elder years of their lives … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 