American families are often scattered across the country. Kids grow up, find opportunities they like in other places and move away. The parents may stay put, happy to remain where they’ve lived most of their lives. Then aging happens. And with it, risks no one really thought about. At AgingParents.com, where we advise families about […]
The dreaded brain disease, Alzheimer’s, is considered difficult to diagnose. For one thing, it comes on gradually in most cases and initially has no physical symptoms like pain or trouble moving around. Doctors usually first hear that a person has some problems with short term memory. Not much happens until that gets worse. Then, they […]
Families struggle with how to help aging parents and other loved ones as they begin to lose independence. Especially when the elder lives at a distance from family, assisted living seems to be a solution. Kids don’t want to move closer to the aging parent and parents don’t want to move from the familiar town […]
Maybe it started to become more visible during the pandemic. Now, there is a nationwide effort to remove the long standing stigma of mental health issues. Historically, it has been very difficult for anyone to persuade a family member to get mental health help when family sees the signs. If you have an elder in […]
Adult son of a well-to-do real estate investor began to notice that his father, Wealthy Dad (WD), was slipping. WD was becoming forgetful. He had purchased a lot of real estate in his younger days, and owned eight single family houses in one of the most expensive markets in the U.S. He gradually lost the […]
Our elders love their independence, for the most part. Perhaps over time, their chronic health conditions start to erode their abilities to do some things independently. In the absence of a sudden event, like a fall, the slow decline in physical ability may not be obvious when family visit their loved ones. And at some […]
A new study published in the New York Times demonstrates some startling findings about loss of ability to make money decisions in older people. The study approaches the issue by looking at debt accumulation and reduced credit scores in elders long before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. The team of economists and […]
A new study published in the New York Times demonstrates some startling findings about loss of ability to make money decisions in older people. The study approaches the issue by looking at debt accumulation and reduced credit scores in elders long before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. The team of economists and […]
The battle goes on with aging parents who are living alone or without family nearby and their adult children. From the kids’ point of view, their parent is just not safe in that big house anymore, with the declines that often come with aging. Perhaps the elder has lost a spouse or partner and there […]
You’ve heard the adage “use it or lose it”. It’s particularly apt in describing what happens as we age. Typically we move less, lose muscle strength, and suffer the consequences of losing independence, have greater fall risk and other undesirable things. At the beginning of each year, people commonly make New Year’s resolutions to lose […]
