Homecare is touted as the panacea for care of our frail elders. It is more cost effective than residential settings such as assisted living or nursing home care and it speaks to the wishes of many older adults who want to remain in their own homes preserving a sense of independence, familiarity and continuity. Our […]
In discussing late stage dementia the use of dolls and stuffed animals was the topic of the last Round Table Discussion Group. Almost unanimously we agreed that despite the initial discomfort of feeling that we might be patronizing and infantilizing an older adult, the fact is that this behavioral and non-pharmacological intervention could be […]
Several weeks ago I gave a talk to a group of family members on caring for aging parents. With his family all present that evening, an 88 year old father raised this bold question: “What can I expect from my children?” It was the most poignant and appropriate question of the evening. He got right […]
The effort to bring forth the strengths and personhood of people experiencing dementia and cognitive impairment has brought with it a number of programs geared towards the early stages when a PWD can more easily be engaged and has higher levels of verbal communication. Preferences can be articulated, activities can be tailored, gifts (personal and […]
The question raised in this article was if dependence was a useful concept in staging Alzheimer’s disease. The discussion was wide-ranging and robust and much later it occurred to me that the arc of this discussion was that dependence implies a relationship whereas the other measures – cognition, function and behavior – do not. This […]
I was recently asked to speak at a memorial service for my mothers’ life-long friend, Hana. I opened my remarks with a quote from Wikipedia defining friendship: “Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between two or more people. Although there are many forms of friendship, certain characteristics include affection, sympathy, empathy, honesty, mutual understanding, […]
Chronic and long-term pain was the topic for the November Round Table Discussion Group. We used as a reference a 2012 article in the Journal of Applied Gerontology. The attempt in this qualitative research was to describe responses and adaptations to living with long-term pain. I found it helpful, if a little reductive, to describe […]
After our Round Table Discussion, I came to appreciate the topic of late-life remarriage in ways that I had not previously considered. Initially I had doubts about including this in the series and by the few people who attended, others didn’t consider this an important topic either. But I have come to recognize how much […]
Atul Gawande is a gifted writer, perceptive physician and compassionate humanist, (and probably a pretty good surgeon, but I can’t speak to that). In his new book he writes beautifully about aging, care for the elderly, and the importance of the medical practice of geriatrics. What fascinates me, is that in all the book reviews […]
Round Table Discussion Group September 2014 Journal Articles Positive Gerontology: Well-Being & Psychological Strengths in Old Age, Wozniak & Jopp, Gerontology & Geriatric Research, Volume 1, Issue 3, 2012 A Program of Positive Intervention in the Elderly: Memories, Gratitude and Forgiveness, Ramirez, et al, Aging & Mental Health, 2014, Vol 18, No 4, 463-470 […]
