Filed under Safety …

Get Rid of Old Meds

If you have old and unused medications stashed around your house — or if your elder parents have them — make a note of the 2012 Take-Back Initiative. It’s sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and coming right up on April 28th (that’s this Saturday). Participants can safely get rid of pills and bottles that are sitting around … Continue reading →

Cultural Changes Wrought By Aging in the ‘Burbs

According to a Washington Post story, If Baby Boomers Stay in Suburbia, Analysts Predict Cultural Shift, the suburbs are already experiencing a huge cultural transition as their populations age. Many locations are already making substantial program and infrastructure changes as they prepare for what will be a wave of graying residents (sometimes referred to as a … Continue reading →

Green House Project Conference – Live Streaming

Information about the conference is from the Changing Aging website and more information is available there.  Because of continuing interest in the Green House Homes movement, and after posting four Green House Homes pieces, on this blog, I am planning to listen in to these presentations, and you can, too.  See the information below. Begin Section … Continue reading →

Dementia: The Problem of Wandering

The May 4, 2010 New York Times features a health article, More With Dementia Wander from Home, focusing on the problems families experience when a family member with dementia wanders and gets lost. The piece explains how a rising number of confused dementia patients are walking away from home, requiring the development of new policing and … Continue reading →

Aging Parents: Hospital Acquired Infections

This year alone I know five people who entered the hospital for surgery and then became terribly ill with hospital acquired infections (HAIs), also called nosocomial infections. One person I know had a second HAI after surviving the first one. Is it unusual to know this many people, or is the problem getting worse and … Continue reading →

Aging Parents: Death from Falls, Part II, Observations

Observation about Seniors and Falling (for resources on falling see Senior Adults and Falling and Keeping Our Parents and Ourselves Accident Free) Three out of four of our parents fell while they were living active lives, albeit with certain chronic medical conditions. All four attended classes or workshops on balance assessment and fall prevention. Our … Continue reading →

Aging Parents: Death from Falls, Part I

With aging parents on my mind a lot these days, I am extra clued into sickness, decline, and factors that contribute to the end of an elderly person’s life. Frequently I ask two questions. Why do falls have such a strong association with the death of people over age 65, and why isn’t prevention more … Continue reading →

Aging Parents: Post About Medication Management

Medication Support Information Check out Dale Carter’s post, Important, Little-known Resource for an Aging Parent, at her Transition Aging Parents blog. She writes about Medication Therapy Management (MTM), a service my husband and I wish we had known about for his mother, who died in January. It looks like an amazing service, one that I plan to learn … Continue reading →

Quality of Care Leader May Head Medicare

According to the New York Times, President Obama will be appointing an experienced and collaborative physician as the new administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The article by Robert Pear, Obama Chooses Health Policy Scholar as the Director for Medicare and Medicaid, reported that Donald M. Berwick, M.D. is to be … Continue reading →

Aging Parents and Medication Side Effects

Recently my dad, who takes a number of blood pressure and heart medications, began to experience nosebleeds –they seemed to begin out of the blue. Family members and friends kept offering explanations for why the nosebleeds were occurring. Twice, when he had difficulty stopping the bleeding, Dad went to the emergency room at the local … Continue reading →

Seniors, Exercise, and Preventing Falls

Once again a fall. This time it is a friend’s mother who fell, and today I heard that her mother’s health is continuing to decline. Senior falls are frustrating and sad, occurring frequently and causing physical problems, discomfort, outright pain, and unhappiness. Over the last four months I keep returning to the topic of seniors … Continue reading →

Senior Parents: Canes and Walking Sticks

I’ve been thinking a lot about walking sticks and canes and how they help prevent falls. After certain age, a fall almost guarantees that the activities of daily living (ADL’s) become more and more difficult thereby leading to other health problems. I mentioned in a recent posting how I worry about my mom falling, so … Continue reading →

Dementia: Mobility, Falling, and Perception

This morning mother fell. Until now she has stayed in bed until one of the nursing assistants arrives to help her get up and get dressed. Today it was a different story — for the first time she tried to get out of bed. The nursing assistant found mother on the floor in the living room a bit … Continue reading →

How We Speak to Seniors

I’d love to know how many seniors are truly hard of hearing. I’ll bet the percentage is higher than the general population, but not that high. I ask this question because I’ve discovered that when people speak to seniors — in clinics, at hospitals, in stores, at the library, but especially in medical settings — … Continue reading →