Summer begins next week in the U.S., and many areas are already experiencing heat waves. According to the American Red Cross, excessive heat has caused more deaths than all other weather events in recent years. Older adults are more vulnerable to dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Please check on them (in person if you …
5 Steps to Help Older Adults Beat the Summer Heat Read More »
My friend, Bob Watson, mentioned in passing that his 85-year-old mother made a tandem parachute jump for the first time in her life. I was fascinated and inspired by this brave act because, based on what I’ve observed, as people age they often become more cautious in their actions. Geraldine Watson is a great …
Geraldine Watson Parachutes for the First Time at Age 85 Read More »
A support group member asked, “How do I get over the guilt?” A few months prior she had moved her husband to a board and care facility because she could no longer care for him by herself at home. Intellectually she knew it was the best thing for both of them, but the guilt still …
I watched this movie expecting to learn more about British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s life story, with the emphasis on her place in British history and politics. I knew she must have been a unique person to have achieved the position of Britain’s only female Prime Minister to date. What I didn’t know I would …
This is the third article in a four-part series about finding an assisted living facility for 82-year-old Sally. Please click here for Part 1 with some background info. And click here for Part 2 about our visit to Assisted Living Community “A.” Her story continues below . . . . Sally and I were running …
How to Find an Assisted Living Community — Part 3 Read More »
One caregiving question I’m asked often is, “How do I find the best assisted living facility for my aging parents?” Recently I received a request to help Sally, an 82-year-young woman, with no family living nearby, find an assisted living facility to move into. Her family living cross-country asked me to be their “eyes and …
How to Find an Assisted Living Community — Part 1 Read More »
This is the second part in a four-part series. Please click here for Part 1 with background about finding an Assisted Living residence for Sally. Meeting Sally On a Saturday morning I met Sally at her friend’s home, where she was living temporarily, and off we went to visit the first of two Assisted Living …
How to Find an Assisted Living Community — Part 2 Read More »
This is the final part in our series about how we found the best assisted living facility for 82-year-old Sally to live in. Please click here to read the back story, and click here and here to read about our visits to the Assisted Living communities under consideration. Below is the outcome of our …
How to Find an Assisted Living Community — Part 4 Read More »
If you’re a long distance family caregiver, you may have a few extended visits with your aging parents throughout the year. These visits provide an excellent opportunity to watch for signs of possible decline in their physical and/or cognitive abilities. Sometimes a long distance caregiver notices things that a spouse or an adult child who …
Visiting Aging Parents: Don’t Miss These Warning Signs Read More »
Sometimes the realization comes almost too late — you sense that your parents or other loved ones may soon be gone, and it dawns on you that you don’t have any recent photos to remember them by . . . When I snapped this photograph of my father, it was to show him how …
