Filed under Caregiving …

How Does One Decide to Stop Getting Medical Tests?

I am astonished at the number of diagnostic tests prescribed for older seniors. When my husband’s mother was 90, she had a gynecological exam — we suggested it and the doctor carried it out — and though I knew the doctor was gentle, Mother cried out because of the discomfort. Afterward we wondered why we put … Continue reading →

Eleanor Clift Writes About Hospice

Journalist Eleanor Clift has written a superb article in the August 2011 publication Health Affairs about the hospice experience of her husband, journalist Tony Brazaitis, in the months before he died of cancer. It’s freely available and filled with astute observations and information — a good read for anyone, but especially for families who may have to … 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 #1: This Hospital Gets It

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. I am sitting in a beautiful … Continue reading →

Aging Parents, Adult Children: Caregiving and Empathy

When you have senior parents who need increasing support, empathy is critical. You try hard, and not always with success, to understand what they are experiencing. That’s called empathy. The concept of empathy has received a bit of a bad rap the past year or two with politicians actually taking the time to deliver statements … Continue reading →

Redesigned Medicare Caregiver Site: A Graphical Tour

To discover Medicare and caregiving resources, check out the redesigned caregiving website, debuting Tuesday, April 12, 2011. It’s user-friendly and graphically interesting with a focus on easy information access. At the same time updated site promotes learning, sharing, supporting, and collaborating. Adult children, even if they are not providing a huge amount of caregiving support, would … Continue reading →

Medicare Projections: Congressional Budget Office

Read CBO: Seniors Would Pay Much More For Medicare Under Ryan Plan in the Kaiser Health News. A graph using Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data depicts the costs to a Medicare beneficiary (what a person will pay) in 2022 and 2030. In the article Congressman Ryan says, “Washington has been making empty promises to Americans from a … Continue reading →

The Good Caregiver: Rules of the Road for Adult Children

I have just read The Good Caregiver cover-to-cover. The recently published book, by Robert L. Kane, M.D., is an all-in-one user’s guide with thorough, indexed, and therefore easy-to-find information about every aspect of elderly parent caregiving. Though he is a world-renowned specialist on aging and long-term care (Read Dr. Kane’s faculty bio), and he produces lots of … Continue reading →

SeniorTech: Nothing to Fear but Fear …

Many of us find ourselves helping senior parents with technology. These days it goes hand-in-hand with even the most moderate caregiving assistance. Read Seniors Have Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself, a post by Jamie Carracher over at the Aging Online blog. Carracher points out that most seniors want to learn as much as they … Continue reading →

The Scams of Springtime (and Every Other Season)

I’ve been meaning to encourage people to read a post, Caregivers Need to be Alert to Scams that Target the Elderly, over at the  Inside Aging Parent Care blog. It provides an excellent overview of scams that target people in general and seniors in particular. Scammers are sophisticated operators, figuring out where to find elderly, … Continue reading →

Will Concierge Medical Practices Cause Medicare Decline?

Read High-end Medical Option Prompts Medicare Worries, an article posted by the Associated Press today (April 2, 2011). The article, by health reporter Ricardo Alonzo-Zaldivar, examines the increasing number of practices that are moving toward concierge medicine (also called retainer-based physician practices). Concerns abound about how this might affect the access to care by Medicare beneficiaries. Although … Continue reading →

Are Robots an Answer to Caregiving Needs?

Read Does Seamus the Robot Care for Me at the Albany Times Union. The February 27, 2011 article, by Michael Brannigan, explores the use of robots for elder caregiving. Brannigan references Sherry Turkle’s book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Ourselves, a recently published book that explores the ever-changing degrees … 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 →