Assisted Living Costs Ranked Nationally
Did you know that the term “assisted living” is the most popular Google search term for senior housing? Certainly more so than “nursing homes” and “senior living”, according to a new senior care analysis. It’s no wonder. Studies show that in 2013, 45% of those who needed long term care and could not age in place […]
Cruise Ship Retirement: Assisted Living on the High Seas?
Last month I read the USA Today story about Lee Wachtstetter, an 86-year-old Florida widow who sold her Fort Lauderdale home (and acreage) and to live a “stress-free, fairy-tale life” aboard Crystal Cruise Line’s 11-year-old ship, Crystal Serenity. Retiring as a permanent resident on a luxury cruise ship isn’t cheap. “Mama Lee” estimates she pays $164,000 per year, […]
Short Films Highlight Ageism
Where will you be Sunday night? If you are like me and millions of viewers (43 million last year), you will be watching the 87th Academy Awards. Are you rooting for Birdman or Boyhood? Will Eddie Redmayne take Best Actor for channeling Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything? Who will win the Oscar for Best Actress? My money’s […]
Seniors and Online Dating
Seniors are using technology in all its aspects to improve their lives. Cell phones can also be medical alert devices. Email is a way to keep in touch with family and friends far away. Skype is the video phone promised in yesterday’s sci-fi movies. It’s no wonder that seniors are now one of the fastest growing demographics […]
Learn First Aid for Various Situations with Red Cross App
When unforeseen health situations that arise, senior caregivers may not know exactly what the issue is or the appropriate first aid response. The most important response in a health emergency is to remain calm, call 911 and follow the instructions of the operator. To help identify health issues and emergencies, The Red Cross First Aid […]
Bracing for the Elder Boom in America
The image of a typical nursing home, right or wrong, inspires fear in the hearts of many seniors. They picture dark, dank living spaces, rife with an uncaring, or worse, malicious staff, and, perhaps most of all, they fear becoming isolated and forgotten. It’s no wonder, then, that the idea of aging in place, at […]
Seniors and Snow Removal
Winter Storm Linus dragged its blanket of snow across the North and Northeast portions of the United States earlier this week. Many spent long hours digging out and when, as we here in Chicago experienced, city snowplows couldn’t get to side streets, many of us were trapped in the middle of the road, tires spinning. […]
CDC Reports Record High Flu Hospitalizations of Elderly
It’s a well-known fact that people 65 years and older are at greater risk of serious complications from the flu than their younger counterparts. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s estimated that between 50 and 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations in the United States occur in seniors. The CDC release the new […]
California Enacts Minimum Caregiver Training
Cases of elder abuse and elder neglect can be found everywhere. Abuse can be physical, psychological, and/or emotional. Seniors can be the victims of neglect when caregivers fail to fulfill their duties and obligations to provide even the most basic elder care. Seniors can be the victims of financial exploitation, especially when they entrust their caregiver with […]
Seniors and Bullying
It’s an irony of life that, in many ways, we end as we begin — dependent, spoonfed pureed foods (is Ensure the geriatric Enfamil?), wearing diapers. If it’s true that at a certain point we our lives begin to Benjamin Button, then maybe it’s true that retirement communities are like high school, replete with the ubiquitous resident […]
Home Care Workers are “Companions” Judge Rules
For the million+ home care workers in the United States, the dream of finally receiving the respect and pay equality their profession so richly deserves was struck down with one judge’s decision to block a Department of Labor regulation that would force third-party employers to provide them minimum wage and overtime, just days before it was to […]
Medicare Pays Doctors for Integrated Senior Care
Eleanor is 85 years old and spends many of her days in various doctors’ offices. Her osteopath checks her progress after a recent hip replacement. Her rheumatologist helps manage her arthritis pain. She sees her cardiologist after a mild heart episode and her primary care physician treats her hypertension. No one has yet addressed her […]