Join the Conversation! Introducing the Picker Report on Aging blog

In the movement to make elderhood a rich and productive time of life — not just a leftover — the voices of those who are living through and grappling with this transition must be heard. Social media and blogging have provided a platform for millions and millions of unheard voices to speak out, and that’s why ChangingAging.org is partnering with the Picker Institute to launch a new blog — the Picker Report on Aging in America at www.PickerReport.org — dedicated to promoting person-centered care by building a social network of elders, their advocates, care givers and families. Watch our welcome video and join the conversation!

Person-Centered Culture Change Sweeps Rhode Island

Rhode Island’s state legislature recently passed sweeping culture change legislation that opens the door to building Green House Project homes and strongly promotes person-centered long term care. A local Public Television program, State TV, produced an eight-part special documenting passage of the legislation and featuring numerous interviews discussing culture change and person-centered care. Click here to see the videos.

Elder vs. Elderly — What’s in a Word?

Reader Helen throws down this challenge:

Dr Bill, why the resistance to the word ‘elderly’? It’s the adjective of the noun ‘elder’. Why do you find the word ‘elderly’ so dirty and demeaning, and what would you suggest, alternatively, as a descriptive [i.e. adjective]? Really, it’s quite an interesting discussion.

Our challenge to ChangingAging readers — how do you feel about the word “elderly”? Do we have any readers who have been called “elderly” and can tell us how they feel about the word?

Al Power weighs in on the “Elderly” controversy:

While the word “elderly” COULD carry any connotation, the usual result in our society is that it suggests an image of a frail, broken, dependent person. The rather common usage, therefore, of a term that paints aging in such a negative light contributes to the negative image of older people that ChangingAging and other culture change movements try to dispel.

Continue reading here.

Fear of Flying err no… Falling

Inside Eldercare talks about the “fear of falling:”

Falling for the elderly is devastating and has many lasting consequences such as pain, injury, loss of independence, and costly medical bills. In fact, fifty percent of older adults [elders] who have fallen in the past year have a fear of falling. In 2005, 15,800 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls.

A fear of falling, like most other fears is embarrassing. For this reason, many seniors do not share this fear with their families or doctors. Women are more likely to report a fear of falling, although men are more likely to die from falls.

By the way, those are my strikethroughs and edits. Sorry but “elderly” is a dirty, demeaning word. More here.

Remembering— A Blog

This blog documents the experience of family members as they enter into a life with dementia:

We are not doctors or psychologists. We own a small engineering consulting and technology business. But the lessons we’ve learned about Alzheimer’s disease come from very personal, direct experience. Martha’s grandmother was the first, then her mother, who has Lewy Body Disease. John’s father has the more traditional type of the disease. His uncle, also named John, had the disease, but with a difficult twist: he did not respond to medication when he became violent. Grandma and Uncle John are now deceased.

This blog is an attempt to document what we have learned observing caregivers, helping caregivers, and being caregivers.

Want to know what happens? Go Here.

America’s Best Kept Promise

The easiest way for me to raise my blood pressure is to read articles detailing the “gloom and doomers” deliberately misleading and fact challenged attacks on America’s best kept promise.
Social Security is safe, stable and strong. Find out why here.

The Culinary Caregivers

The Culinary Caregivers at Rolling Fields want to share a story about choices and the happiness that comes with having them!

We have had a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables from our very own gardens this year. The elders bring these treats into our restaurant (aka Kallimos Café) and ask us to do different things with them. Paul likes to have a fresh tomato cut up and put on a nice garden salad with Thousand Island dressing! Yummy! Peggy likes to have yellow summer squash specially breaded and she gets them cooked up just the way she likes. Recently we had an elder named Sadie ask for a tomato from the garden to be sliced up and given to her with two slices of white bread and a little bit of mayonnaise. She was very excited to be able to make her own sandwich. This prompted the elders around her to go into a tomato eating frenzy!

Continue reading here.

Classy Blue Ribbon

Does your beer define you? That’s a biased question, a better one would be does you alcoholic beverage define you? It can sometimes seem that what you drink is as much a fashion statement as the cloths you wear or the music you like.
The stereotypes go as follows: snobs drink wine, real men drink whiskey, college students drink anything, and hipsters drink PBR. Believe it or not companies spend lots of time and money playing to these images.

Green House Project Meeting Keynote by Dr. Bill Thomas

Did you miss Dr. Bill Thomas’ keynote speech streamed live from the Green House Project annual conference? Don’t worry, you can replay it here!