ChangingAging with Dr. Bill Thomas
Steve Jobs, Over and Out
By Dr. Bill Thomas on October 6, 2011
I am sitting in a nice little breakfast shop in St. Augustine, Florida. When I looked at the news this morning the first thing I saw was that Steve Jobs had passed away yesterday. I feel great compassion for the family and friends that he left behind. As I was reading about him, and his work, I realized that, although there was a stack of newspapers on the counter, I was reading the news on my iPad. The products Apple has created and that I have bought and used over the past 20 years have, in a very real way, changed my life. Full Story »
Growing Old is a Civil Right
By Kavan Peterson on October 6, 2011
In blogging about the politics of aging and the Poetics of Aging conference I’ve come to agree with other advocates that a major cultural paradigm shift is necessary to break our society’s obsession with youth, end ageism and reverse widespread declinist attitudes towards growing old. How do we bring about such a cultural shift and change aging? I believe the key is to make growing old with dignity a civil right. Full Story »
Grade A Aging Mojo
By Dr. Bill Thomas on October 3, 2011
I’ve always said that people who can look at aging sideways do the best job of understanding aging and the role it is meant to play in our lives. I have become acutely aware that the “direct frontal assault” on aging is never a good idea.
That’s why I like this lovely post from a “non-aging-oriented” blog that I stumbled upon.
See what you think: Full Story »
Culture Change
St. John’s Green House Project Brings Elders Back To Their Communities
By [email protected], The Green House Project Blog on October 5, 2011
On the heels of opening the 100th Green House Project home in the nation, we’re getting ready to celebrate another landmark — St. John’s Home Green House Project in New York will be the first in the nation to bring elders back to their hometowns to live in homes throughout the greater Rochester community. Full Story »
Vote For West Jordan In The Pink Glove Dance Competition
By Kavan Peterson, Eden Alternative Blog on October 4, 2011
Why would perfectly sane and incredibly busy Eden Alternative care partners agree to dance in a YouTube video viewed around the world? Eden Alternative Registered West Jordan Care Center in Utah is proud to submit a video in the national Medline Pink Glove Dance competition. Full Story »
Employee satisfaction: A critical factor in the business of caregiving
Employee satisfaction: A critical factor in the business of caregivingBy Long-Term Living Blogs on October 5, 2011 | Edit
It is difficult to place a dollar amount on the far-reaching impacts of employee satisfaction on the health of any long-term care provider organization’s overall business. In spite of this, there is absolutely no doubt that investing in employee satisfaction will save provider organizations thousands of dollars—dollars that are critical in this climate of shrinking reimbursement. Full Story »
Health and Wellness
Advance directives reduce end-of-life costs in New York and Los Angeles
Advance directives reduce end-of-life costs in New York and Los AngelesBy Alex Smith, GeriPal.org on October 4, 2011
When have advance directives ever been shown to do anything? They were a complete failure in SUPPORT. Study after study demonstrates that few people fill them out, rarely are they used, and that health care proxies don’t have a great idea of what their loved one want anyway. As Angela Fagerlin and Carl Schniederfamously opined: “Enough: Failure of the Living Will.” Full Story »
Study Shows Americans Optimistic and Unprepared For Health In Retirement (Part 2 of 2)
By Christopher Gardner, MKCreative Blog on October 4, 2011
Last Thursday we shared a report conducted by National Public Radio (NPR), who has been presenting the findings of their in-depth survey concerning how recent retirees and soon-to-be retirees (those over 50) view retirement. The report was conducted by NPR, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.The takeaway of the survey shows that those close to retirement are strikingly optimistic about what their retirements will entail in terms of economic and social stability (which we discussed last week), as well as about their good health and longevity (to which we turn today). Full Story »
The Healing Powers of Music Confirmed in Recent Studies
By John Schappi, Aging and Parkinsons and Me on October 4, 2011
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. –Oliver Wendell Holmes
Without music, life would be a mistake. –Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Few of us would disagree with these sentiments. But now recent studies show that music also has major positive effects on many aspects of health — ranging from memory and mood to cardiovascular function and athletic performance. These studies were reviewed in the July issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. Here are some of the studies and findings: Full Story »
Elderhood
Why I Write About Growing Old
By Ronni Bennett, Time Goes By on October 3, 2011
On Saturday, I posted one photographwith a link to more of elders who are at least 100 years old. The goal of the photographer is to show the beauty in age, and the reason it is necessary for some people to occasionally take on such a project is that most cultures abhor aging.
From the cradle we are bombarded with images, words and ideas about getting old – every one of them negative. The best kind of elders, they say, are those who are “young at heart” (whatever that means). It is, supposedly, a compliment to hear, “You don’t look that old.” And in recent years, the media has made a fetish of lionizing elders who take on extreme sports such as climbing Mt. Everest, skydiving and bungee jumping that even most young people are too smart to try. Full Story »
