Can we please not use the word spy when we discuss the needs of aging parents? Each year, during the two-month holiday season, I see an article or two urging adult children to use the holiday visits as an opportunity to spy — discretely, of course — during family gatherings. The goal is to discover … Continue reading
Filed under elder care …
Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Book Review
A few years ago, when my mother-in-law was sinking deeper and deeper into dementia, my husband and I suddenly realized, with some help from professional geriatric counselors, that the devious brain disease had been lurking for some time. Although we had noticed a number of memory issues and behaviors, we continually chalked them up to … Continue reading
Elder Parent Caregiving During and After SuperStorm Sandy
When my husband’s mother lived in an excellent assisted living community, we found severe weather to be a challenge. Huge storms, no matter what the season, made it difficult to stay in touch. Gail Sheehy’s November 3, 2012 article about elder and medical caregiving during Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy is posted over at Caring.com. It’s a must-read … Continue reading
Empowering Through Design: What a Health-Wellness Concept!
We’ve all had experiences trying to accomplish a task that is way too hard — and one reason it’s so difficult is because the environment is not designed to help a person function and work efficiently. Many of us have watched our aging parents grow frustrated, especially in medical settings, where equipment and furniture is … Continue reading
Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenses Loom Large Despite Medicare
Adult children who help aging parents should check out the Washington Post article At End of Life, Medicare Beneficiaries Spend Thousands Out-of-Pocket. Reporter Sarah Kliff explains that a recent study, Out of Pocket Spending in the Last Five Years of Life (abstract), published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, examined the amount of money that aging … Continue reading
Learning All We Can About Assisted Living
Check out 10 Things Assisted Living Homes Won’t Tell You, an August 15, 2012 article over at Smart Money. These tips for adult children and their families look like common sense suggestions. Often however, when family members seek an assisted living community for an elder parent, they need to make decisions quickly without much time … Continue reading
Jane Gross – “On Being” Program Rebroadcast
On her Facebook page A Bittersweet Season author, Jane Gross, mentioned that one of her book interviews with On Being radio host, Krista Tippett, will re-air today (Thursday, July 26, 2012). Gross wrote her book after her journey in the elder parent caregiving world, and she shares a broad range of insights, ideas, and thoughts. I listened to this … Continue reading
Woodland Park Green Houses: On the Inside, June 11, 2012
The VMRC Green Houses at Woodland Park are beginning to look like real houses with roofs, windows, and doors. Now much of the construction has moved indoors. This time when I visited, Mr. Marvin Nisely, who supervises the construction at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community, took me on an inside tour of one of the homes. Expand … Continue reading
Elder Parent Surgery, Part III: Expect the Unexpected
After a successful day of treatment at the University of Virginia Health System we were relaxed. We thought that we had considered every detail of Mom’s surgical adventure. Then at 4:00 a.m. a fire alarm went off in the hotel on the night after my mother’s surgery, and we had to evacuate the hotel immediately. But … Continue reading
Elder Parent Surgery, Part I: Getting Ready
Tomorrow morning my 84-year-old mom — a woman who volunteers in election campaigns, walks or swims most days, consumes countless books and newspapers, power uses her computer, and has boundless energy — is having some serious surgery. We are spending the night in a hotel near the large medical center, which is also a teaching … Continue reading
Green House Homes News from Maryland
A Kaiser Health News article, Maryland’s First Green House Project Nursing Home Aids Low-Income Seniors, described a new community on the site of the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Associated Catholic Charities will run the Green House Residences at Stadium Place. Am I mistaken or is does the headline contain an oxymoron? Is it possible to … Continue reading
Green House Construction Update at VMRC – April 8, 2012
Easter Sunday at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Construction Site April 8, 2012 My posts on the Woodland Park Construction and other Green House® Homes information include:
Chronic Conditions of People Living in Residential Care
What are the most common chronic medical conditions of people who live in residential care facilities, including assisted living communities? This graph depicts the 10 most common chronic conditions of residential care residents. The data come from a National Center for Health Statistics survey of United States residential facilities, not including nursing homes. Check out the other … Continue reading
Green House Construction Update at VMRC – April 3, 2012
A few weeks ago I spent a day with my parents, and I checked out the Green House Homes construction at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. The earliest part of construction, right now after the groundbreaking, is the most challenging time for everyone to watch, because we want to see more than we are seeing. It’s that … Continue reading
Green Houses in NY State and How They Work
This interesting article, Nursing Homes Trend Toward More Homey, Less Institutional Settings, in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle describes the quality-of-life changes that residents and families experience when a family member lives in a Green House Project home. Reporter Patti Singer provides a window, allowing readers a glimpse of life in a care community where … Continue reading
SuperWomen — Take Care
Adult children try to do it all. Adult daughters sometimes do even more and take risks with their health. Spend a minute reading this short, succinct article, reminding those of us who are mothers, adult daughters, and daily workers that we need to take time and use a bit of our energy to care for … Continue reading
Read — Making the Best of What Could be the Worst – Atlantic Article
Read the March 7, 2012 Atlantic article, Making the Best of What is Often the Very Worst Time of Our Lives. Whether we are helping to support aging parents right now or thinking about the years when we become elderly adults, we all know the situation. Our health care system and long-term care options are … Continue reading
Pictures from 2012 VMRC Green House Groundbreaking
January 5, 2012 Click on each thumbnail to see a larger image. To learn more please read these posts about Woodland Park Green House Homes, a new community at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. Woodland Park Green Houses Have Roofs, June 3, 2012 Woodland Park Green House Walls are Rising – April 28, 2012 Green House Homes … Continue reading
