The opening comment at this RT was about a grandfather who refused the idea of being cared for when a dedicated grandson helped with grocery shopping and other household chores. Despite a rational dialog, the grandfather refused to accept the idea of being cared for. While we can debate about why some elders refuse help […]
Round Table delved into the messy world of guardianship. Messy because assessing capacity is a complex task. Messy because rescinding someone’s legal rights, whether in full or in part, is truly troublesome. Two hospital discharge planners who were present at the Round Table expressed frustration and dismay at how frequently guardianship is raised as a […]
What is hopelessness? What does it mean to feel needed or that one is a burden? These are intense and profound emotions that contribute to diagnoses of depression and for some, thoughts of suicide. Words mentioned by individuals are “I might as well just disappear from life,” or “I don’t think there’s any meaning to […]
In my home city one can’t help but notice the increasing number of homeless encampments or simply the sleeping bags, tents, cardboard boxes beside the freeways or tucked into the shrubs near our bike paths or side streets. Daily a news article appears reporting about homeless policy. But, rarely, if ever, has the issue of […]
Every time I think about home care I get worried. I worry about the frail elder and how well a home care worker is prepared to care for someone. I worry about the home care worker and his or her ability to manage the needs and demands. I worry about how isolating the experience is […]
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 […]
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 […]
