According to the New York State Bar Association, “medical aid in dying is a medical practice that has been adopted in ten US jurisdictions (WA, MT, VT, CA, CO, D.C., HI, ME, NJ, NM) that allows a terminally ill, mentally capable adult with a prognosis of six months or less…
While studying the topic of dementia, your writer was surprised to learn that the single most effective preventative measure would be for more of the hard-of-hearing to wear hearing aids. Studies show that only one in six persons who needs a hearing aid actually uses one and the average person…
New York law prevents spouses from being disinherited. Instead, a spouse who is disinherited may go to court and claim their “elective share” which is the greater of fifty thousand dollars or one-third of the estate. Questions often arise as what the “estate” of the deceased spouse consists of. Naturally,…
Published this year, “The Good Life” reports on the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever done. Tracking the lives of hundreds of participants for over 80 years, the report concludes that it is the strength of our relationships with friends, relatives and co-workers that…
Each one of us experience countless injustices in the course of everyday living. Like other experiences, it is not the experience itself so much that counts, but how you process it. The Mayo Clinic addresses the health benefits of “forgiveness” which they define as “an intentional decision to let go…
In his best-selling book, “Successful Aging”, Daniel J. Levitin, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill University (your writer’s alma mater), shows how the brain is formed and how it changes, in surprisingly positive ways, as we age. The author notes that Freud said that the two most important…
In order to contest a will, the objectant must have “standing”, meaning they would legally be entitled to a share or a greater share of the estate if the will was declared invalid. “Standing” alone, however, is insufficient. There must also be grounds for contesting as provided below. 1. Undue…
According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA) polypharmacy is the use of multiple drugs to treat diseases and other health conditions. Polypharmacy is common in older adults, many of whom have two or more chronic conditions, and about a third of whom take five or more prescription drugs. Often,…
The recent announcement by 98 year old Jimmy Carter, our long-lived president, that he was opting for hospice care at home instead of additional medical intervention, is in keeping with the trend towards dying with dignity. Hospice care arises when an illness is either no longer responding to medical treatment,…
According to former Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, loneliness poses real threats to both mental and physical health, including depression and anxiety, addictions, heart disease and dementia. His book “Together” reveals that loneliness affects about one-quarter of adult Americans, and “The reality is that loneliness is a natural signal…