ChangingAging.org

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 [...]

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…

Elders and the very young have long been allies. In fact, there is an old joke that goes, “Why do grandparent and grandkids get along so well? They share a common enemy.”
Life in a modern, post industrial, economy frays these ancient bonds.
Let’s look at a blogospheric exchange.
At Pandagon blogger Amanda Marcotte writes….
When I first [...]

This is a recollection written by James Boswell which records his death bed visit with the great philosopher David Hume.
Hume was well known as a “free thinker” which meant that he did not accept any religious dogma and doubted the existence of an afterlife.
Boswell wondered if the approach of death may have changed the great [...]

In the comments, Pat Blanchard offers some good advice that deserves broader attention. I’ve gone ahead and added hyperlinks to her original comment. If you have a minute, click on some of the the links and note how the related material further illuminates what Pat has to say. Even though social media can [...]

It’s more common than I thought and the Great Recession is worsening the trend.
According to a new study by Sun Life Financial, more than 20% of American workers are forced into early retirement by layoffs, cutbacks, and shutdowns. In an age where pensions have gone by the wayside and the future of social security is [...]

Simple things can work surprisingly well.
Consider this insight from Atul Gawande for example…
When there is no way of knowing exactly how long our skeins will run—and when we imagine ourselves to have much more time than we do—our every impulse is to fight, to die with chemo in our veins or a tube in our [...]

If you practice medicine long enough, eventually you’ll see everything.
Consider the case of this 75 year old man…
Doctors feared the worst when they studied Ron Sveden’s (SVEE’-dehn) X-rays and spotted a small dark spot.
The former teacher had worked for years smoking fish and had already had emphysema before he felt his health take a turn [...]

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 [...]

Americans often cite Japan as the country with the most respect for elders. In fact, there is considerable prestige given to older people in Japan and even a national holiday in their honor. There are also some embarrassing lapses which expose a gap between rhetoric and practice. The BBC reports…
Tokyo’s reputed oldest woman has [...]

Joe Angelelli writes…
There’s a good article in the Post-Gazette today about noise pollution in downtown Pittsburgh. The hum of air conditioners is drowning out the public art sound installations…
Oddly enough, this son of an audiologist has always been super sensitive to noise (hyperacusis…I’m the guy holding his ears on the airplane when the announcements are [...]

Al Power checks in early with this gem…

A decade past, Prince saw delirium as a positive force–falling in love. Soulja Boy took it a step farther: “That’s when I start to fall.” Now that’s a concept geriatricians can latch onto.
The real dangers of geriatric delirium are spelled out in detail in this week’s issue of [...]

This blog gets some mighty powerful comments….
My 92-year-old mother with advanced dementia still lives at home and attends an Eden-accredited day centre. Six weeks ago I received a call from the acting manager to say they were finding my mother’s behaviour very challenging and wanted to bring in their ‘Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory’ team to [...]

Daniela Simmons, Founder and President of DANIEL DOMES offered this comment as a followup to her experience with the recent Eden Alternative International Conference.
She also gives us a heads up on some of her latest plans.
I wish her well.
I have been an advocate of culture change, ethical and quality care and
implementing a family and [...]

This is bumped from the comments.
Deborah Cooke is developing into a frequent and insightful commenter and I am always pleased when I see her name pop up on my screen.
Here’s an experience I encountered today while walking home from work. I should have written down some names and reported these guys myself. They aren’t medical [...]

Here is something new from the Eden Alternative.
Become the expert in your home for culture change; not just for yourself but for your team, your organization and the Elders you serve. Learn to overcome the challenges in the complex world of long-term care by creating an action plan specific to your home.
It does not matter [...]

The people behind Paro the Robot Baby Seal seem to have retained the world’s best public relations firm. They’ve scored stories in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
I don’t get it.
Or, maybe, I do get it and I hate admitting the ugly truth.
American culture sees aging as primarily a matter of technical [...]

This clip is a time machine.
It goes way back.
Hippies were new-fangled back then.

I am fascinated by how fast and furiously our society turned against the ideals espoused by the interviewees.
We never looked back.
From the Youtube comments…
Harry Reasoner and many others – then and now, think that it’s better when you “grow up” and realize that [...]

The proverbial answer to who wants to be 100 is the 99-year-old. But nowadays, quite a few people are obsessed with living to 100 or beyond.
I recently searched through the social networking site Meetup.com looking for groups that had formed around issues related to aging and elderhood. What I found was interesting:
The number of Meetup.com [...]

Hello friends. Recently I made the case that Elders and the people who care about our Elders should find a place on Oprah’s show. To make that happen we need to share our stories about how aging has brought richness into our lives. Below is a special YouTube challenge I’ve prepared for you, ChangingAging readers. [...]