ChangingAging.org

I am on my way to Detroit to talk about Ageism in health care. The talk is part of an effort to convert seven Trinity hospitals in Eastern Michigan to the “Senior ED” model of emergency care for older people.
I am going to try to post some video through out the day.
Hope it works!
What’s [...]

I like this blog.
The writer is Canadian and his take on economics and the environment seem both insightful and provocative. That is not an easy combination to pull off.
Here is a taste test…
TED 2009 Prize winner Sylvia Earle discusses the state of the oceans, with striking footage. Her TED Prize wish:
I wish that you would [...]

The comments continue with very challenging real life concerns. So I’ll use my Friday space to address the two latest questions in the “Broken Bones and Broken Hearts” thread.
The first relates to a relative who has broken vertebrae due to osteoporosis and presumably is at risk for falls, who is now distressed by the “lap [...]

We are going to run a series on anti-aging quackery.
Here’s our first entry.
By they way I could not make it all the way through the video.
I feel sorry for this nice lady and wish she could feel more comfortable with her true self…

Blogging can fun!
But there is a process.

I usually skip the part with the knife.

A woman challenges the Thai Buddhist hierarchy for the right to be a monk.

The objection here is derived from the same rotten core that we find at the heart of ageism.
Rather than being judged as an individual this female monk is being judged as a member of a class.
The same kind of thinking drives mandatory [...]

Posted with out comment…
Anderson Cooper Offered $1 MILLION To Ditch Gray Hair
Anderson Cooper has reportedly been offered $1 million to get rid of his gray hair for the next five years, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

Regular readers already know that I am a sucker for these things.
Have at it…

The Boomers have not been babies for a very long time.
In order to understand them at this point in their lives I think it makes the most sense to refer to them as members of the “Post War Generation.”
I’ll be writing much more about this in the months to come.

Gail Collins has a nice piece up on just how difficult it was to extend the right to vote to women.
The story in American history I most like to tell is the one about how women got the right to vote 90 years ago this month. It has everything. Adventure! Suspense! Treachery! Drunken legislators!
But, first, [...]

My favorite American poet is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b. 1807)
From the WIki…
Portrait of the artist as a young man.
In the fall of 1822, the 15-year old Longfellow enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. His grandfather was a founder of the college and his father was a trustee.
By all accounts he was a gifted [...]

An authority speaks…

Here’s a blog that boldly goes where mainstream media won’t dare tread — Better Than I Ever Expected: Sex and Aging, by Joan Price:
Join me in talking out loud about senior sex! I am an advocate for ageless sexuality and the author of Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty [...]

The War on drugs has created some unfortunate collateral damage.
Less than half of American cancer patients receive adequate painkillers, according to the American Pain Foundation. One reason is that doctors are terrified of being accused of drug-trafficking if they over-prescribe.
Matt Yglesias recommends this book…
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment [...]

Sometimes, you can make a difference.

Go Here to make your voice heard

Feisty Blogger “Atrios” went to see a concert. His report…
The Old People Are Alright
Had good seats to see Spoon and The Arcade Fire last light. Was surprised by the number of old people who were there, and by old people I don’t mean old buggers like me, I mean people more than a couple [...]

Hospitals are the worst…

One man’s story…

I’d like to hear (“haha”) some noise related health care stories if you’ve got ‘em…

I was browsing the Internet the other day and I came across an article about young conservatives protesting the nomination/possible confirmation of Solicitor General Elaina Kagan to the Supreme Court.
“From the podium, the speakers railed against what they say is Kagan’s obvious membership in that most insidious of societies, The Order Of The Activist Judge. [...]

Interesting cross-cultural research on cheating.

(h/t Andrew Sullivan)

Ageism exists everywhere. Healthcare is not exempt. But progressive researchers are proving the power of self-perception to improve health outcomes and change ageist attitudes. A study conducted by Marie Bernard, MD noted that “healthcare professionals tend to believe [wrongly] that most older individuals are frail and dependent, and that those who are not are atypical.”
Richard [...]

Are we obsessed with our own demise? I really can’t think of any other explanation why so many people are obsessed with the zombie genre.
The zombie theme enjoyed early success in the movies The Night Of The Living Dead, and The Last Man On Earth. But within the last 10 or so years, the genre [...]

Keith Knapp is a pioneering leader in culture change and a heck of a smart guy. He sent me a note praising the book Nurture Shock.
The authors attempt to use science to pierce the conventional wisdom surrounding child-rearing.
This interests me, of course, because we our task involves overthrowing the old old age and creating [...]

Heard some great music and enjoyed a fine rainbow at the 2010 Grassroots Festival of music and dance. It was a four generation event and the energy was terrific.
My favorite set was Railroad Earth.
About the band…
When they started out in 2001, they were a bunch of guys interested in playing acoustic instruments together. [...]

From Western Australia, Jason Burton weighs in on the PARO controversy.
PARO is not a substitute for human or animal contact. That is not, and should not be, the intention of using one. Rather it is a therapeutic aid that can be used when real animals are not, or chose not to be!, available.
Like any intervention [...]

Real care is not simply a matter of one trained and credentialed person doing things to a person who is ill or injured. Real care implies a knowing and two sided exchange, a human interaction.
We see and feel this in our family life. Healthy families to do not require children to pay for their [...]