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Medical Tourism: Are Local Doctors Always the Best Choice? January 18, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - Patients travel from around the United States and the world to see Richard Guyer, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at the Texas Back Institute in Plano, TX, because he is a recognized, widely published expert in disc-replacement surgery. But when…
They’re Falling Through the Cracks: Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren January 10, 2018 by SCF-Editor - Increasing numbers of grandmothers across the United States are raising their grandchildren, many of them in poverty and grappling with a public assistance system not designed to meet their needs.
Henry Cisneros: Homes—and Neighborhoods—Should Work for All Ages June 29, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - For years, Henry Cisneros watched his father, George, live an active life with limited mobility. A stroke at the age of 59 had left the elder Cisneros without the use of his left arm and left leg. But parts of his house were modified to accommodate his limited mobility. He was able to live there, with his wife, Elvira, in the home and close-knit neighborhood where they’d raised their children, until two years before he died in 2006 at age 89.
They Aren’t Really ‘Just Fine’: Your Aging Parents Who Don’t Live Nearby April 4, 2017 by Lisa Esposito - "I'm doing fine." It's reassuring to hear when you call a parent who lives far away. But the fact is, seniors living alone in their 70s and beyond may keep serious problems to themselves because they don't want to worry you or feel like a burden.
Holding Stories in Their Hands April 4, 2017 by Victoria Robinson - Thelma is 97. “Did you know I used to be a bartender?” she asks photographer Elaine Zelker.
Emi Kiyota: Out to Transform the Rigid Nursing-Home Culture April 4, 2017 by Karen Miller - The first time Emi Kiyota visited her grandmother in a Japanese nursing home, she was profoundly affected. “I was so uncomfortable,” Kiyota says.
The Home Care Revolution: Is Family Care on the Way Out? April 4, 2017 by Barbara Peters Smith - He rinses her feeding tube and hands it to her; she shakes it dry and attaches it to a port on her abdomen as he dissolves three pills in water. Chuck fetches her liquid lunch as Rosalie places a plastic receptacle in an ingenious homemade stand that Chuck fashioned from PVC pipe and an old battery charger, weighted “with imported stones from the front yard.”
The Home Care Revolution: Strangers in the Home April 4, 2017 by Barbara Peters Smith - Many families plunge into the mysterious universe of elder home care after a hospital stay—often an unexpected one.
Shortly before it's time to go home, the patient or a relative typically receives a brochure for the hospital's recommended home health agency, with a brief discussion of the limited rehabilitation services Medicare will cover.
The Home Care Revolution: Are Robots the Answer? April 4, 2017 by Barbara Peters Smith - If you are 55 years old, you could wake up 30 years from now to the warm, affectionate voice of your personal care robot, asking what you would like for breakfast and why you slept for only 5.8 hours last night instead of your usual 7.3.
They’re Old, They’re Sick—and They’re Homeless April 4, 2017 by Margot Kushel - On any given night in the United States, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, over half a million people are without a home. That number may have decreased nationwide in the past few years, but California remains on the forefront of the problem, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s homeless in 2014.
Membership Medicine: When the Doctor Is Always In April 4, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - Adina Cook’s teenage son was skateboarding one evening. He tried to jump 10 concrete stairs and landed smack-dab on his shoulder. Instead of rushing him to the emergency room, Cook, 52, called the family’s doctor, Tracy Ragland, who met them…
Is Medical Marijuana Good Medicine for Older Adults? It’s Complicated April 4, 2017 by Liz Seegert - After Jane broke her ankle, walking even short distances was a painful challenge. The 63-year-old had been an avid hiker and gardener and was stifled by her limited mobility. To make matters worse, she couldn’t tolerate the side effects of prescription painkillers.
Loneliness Can Lead to Health Problems March 28, 2017 by Holly C. Corbett - Wednesday mornings are all about spending time with friends over coffee and eggs for Frank Colvin, 66, of Warwick, NY. The former teacher has breakfast with about 25 men from his retirement community, at a trading-post-turned-restaurant called the Country Dream,…
Nursing Home Residents Risk Abuse—by Other Residents March 28, 2017 by Barbara Peters Smith - The horrific possibility that their loved one has been abused in a nursing home can dawn on family members after the appearance of an unexplained cut or bruise.
Vulnerable LGBT Elders Are Going Back into the Closet March 28, 2017 by Ellen Rand - Lawrence Johnson and Alexandre Rheume were an interracial couple who had been together 38 years until Rheume—22 years older than Johnson—needed professional care as his health declined.
At the Mercy of Strangers March 28, 2017 by Wendy Lustbader - In a culture that values independence above all, many are terrified of growing dependent on the care of others. What could bring dignity and even meaning to the frailty we may face at the ends of our lives?
Want to Live in a Great Place? Find an Age-Friendly City—or Town March 28, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - Among other things, an age-friendly community is walkable and safe, with opportunities for older people to find a job or volunteer, and to connect with others.
It Takes a Village to Age in Place March 28, 2017 by Robert Miskimon and Flora Davis - When Janet Swenson enrolled her 87-year-old mother in Lincoln Park Village, a Chicago organization for older people, she was delighted with the results. Suddenly, her mother had help with household maintenance, someone to call for transportation or to find a…
Tim Carpenter: Retirement Can Unleash Creativity March 28, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - When you’re talking to Tim Carpenter about how he envisions the future of old age, at some point it strikes you: he’s talking about older people as … people. They’re not “seniors.” They’re not “the 62-and-older crowd.” They’re not … other.
Katherine Freund: Imagining a Time When Older People Won’t Need to Drive March 28, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - Her knees aren’t great. She uses a cane. She doesn’t walk as quickly as she used to. And the nearest bus stop is a couple of miles away. She promised her kids she wouldn’t drive. So what now?
Looking for Work after 50? Are You Also Out of Luck? - At one point in her career, Amy Anderson supervised more than 50 people and managed a multimillion dollar budget for a Fortune 500 company. But after losing what she calls her “last good job” in 2013, she had no luck…
Can You Afford to Die? - My two sisters, two brothers and I knew our mother’s condition was terminal. Together with her, we gathered to have a painful conversation about her final wishes. Grieving for a loved one is acutely hard enough; the last thing anyone…