It is not harder to design for older adults just because they have special needs — it is harder to design for them because we refuse to acknowledge their life experience makes them vastly more complex, nuanced and interesting than younger people.
Continue ReadingThis post is part of a 3 part series titled “Abolishing the Old Age Asylum”: Abolishing the Old Age Home, Part 1 I’ve been working hard to change the system of long-term-care in our country and I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish but— there is much that remains to be […]
Continue ReadingWithout much fanfare, the Senate Special Committee on Aging released a report earlier this month on the subject of how the U.S. is progressing in caring for older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The committee compared health-care infrastructure with that of Japan, Australia, France and the United Kingdom – countries chosen because they have demographics and economies similar to ours.
The report found that these countries were all ahead of us on the Alzheimer’s care front. But as Judith Graham points out in a sharply observed piece today on the New Old Age blog, the study also unearthed statistics that suggest that long-term care for America’s elderly in general is lagging behind the rest of the world’s standards.
Continue ReadingThe New York Times has a great little article out about the Cleveland Clinic’s innovative team-based treatment. Instead of being bounced from specialist to specialist they have created a single team of specialists who work together.
Continue ReadingIn its most fundamental reform, the clinic in the past five years has created 18 “institutes” that use multidisciplinary teams to treat diseases or problems involving a particular organ system, say the heart or the brain, instead of having patients bounce from one specialist to another on their own.
AARP’s Susan Rheinhard is a rock star of aging research. Her latest album— ummm I mean study— explores the incredible creativity and resolve that families and friends use to support each other in times of need.
Continue ReadingRecently, I returned home to find a bar of dark chocolate with a ribbon around it at my doorstep. There was no card or acknowledgement – just a little bar of delight waiting there for me. I waited a few days to see if someone was going to own up to leaving it there. But […]
Continue ReadingWhen my husband’s mother lived in an excellent assisted living community, we found severe weather to be a challenge. Huge storms, no matter what the season, made it difficult to stay in touch. Gail Sheehy’s November 3, 2012 article about …
Continue ReadingHospice offers so many options and opportunities to families. This Associated Press article appeared in today’s Washington Post (10-16-2012). It is worth reading.
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