Falls Are Serious and Costly One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury. Each year, 3 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries. Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In 2015, the total medical costs for falls […]
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 […]
Everyone over the age of 50 has had them–senior moments. Events you would prefer to forget. But you can’t. You are worried that new ones will embarrass you or be hurtful. Even more frightening is that you don’t know if you should laugh at them or make an appointment with a neurologist. Finally, a definitive […]
They said or did something you don’t understand, or worse, cause you concern about their cognitive health. Some people suggest you laugh off these “senior moments,” but you can’t. After all, these are your parents or grandparents and you love them. Finally, there is a resource that will enable you to either relax or provide […]
This is the first of an article series on senior moments abstracted from my book, Preventing Senior Moments: How to Stay Sharp Into Your Nineties and Beyond. Everyone has said or done something they immediately regretted, like forgetting the name of a granddaughter, misusing a common word, making a bizarre connection between events, or forgetting […]
A common worry many adult children express about aging parents is that the parents are alone and it’s time they got some help. The kids are worried because of changes in the parent’s health, mobility or memory problems. The aging parent may not agree that there is anything to worry about, and this, of course, […]
Most of us probably know someone who can’t hear very well and doesn’t use hearing aids. It can be frustrating trying to have a conversation with that person. particularly in a group setting, like a dinner table or in a restaurant. They say “what?” and you repeat, but they still don’t hear you much. Can […]
The types of long-term care located in various communities are largely driven by what their oldest residents can afford. This has created stark differences in what’s available to White and minority retirees, a new study finds. Assisted living facilities, despite the high cost, have been the fastest-growing part of the long-term care industry over the […]
COVID has moved from a central place in our lives to a risk that, while still important to heed, has moved out of the foreground. One thing we will not forget, however, is COVID’s toll on nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, where the virus has killed more than 200,000 older Americans and staff. […]
Your aging parent may have demanded something from you long ago: “Promise you’ll never put me in a home!” And you may have promised that. Perhaps you never thought through the implications. For elders who saw what healthcare was like before Medicare in 1965, their fears are founded in what things looked like then: unregulated […]
