End of life planning is very difficult. On the one hand, you must understand what your assets are and contemplate how to dispose of them after your death in a way that is meaningful to you and the people or organizations you gift. On the other hand, you must identify…
Families today, as always, come in all shapes and sizes. This includes sexual orientation. As gays, lesbians, bi-sexual, and transgender people (LGBT) age and move into retirement communities, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities, how welcome are they? An individual who has lived a good life at 85 wants to…
Mental illness is hard to spot in people. This is especially true for seniors. Part of the difficulty with identifying who may be suffering from a mental illness is the social stigma associated with mental illnesses and treatment for mental illnesses. If you yourself are experiencing cognitive decline because of…
Much needed attention is shined on children with autism. Recognizing signs of autism early during a child’s development to begin treatment and education relating to the disease for parents and caregivers has contributed to heightened awareness of the disease and its challenges. Less attention, however is being directed to seniors…
Jimmy Soul wrote a song in 1963 called If You Wanna Be Happy. He suggests the following in his classic hit song: “If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life Never make a pretty woman your wife So from my personal point of view Get an ugly…
Cardiovascular diseases, like heart disease, affect adults 65 and older more than any other age group. A large part of the reason why this is so is because as people age, so does their heart. Aging changes the appearance and function of the heart. In severe cases, a blood vessel…
As we age, our hearing, like other functions diminish. When age- related hearing loss occurs, it is gradual and tends to affect both ears equally – what you cannot hear on the left side of your face is the same as what you cannot hear on the right side of…
Words have meanings. They can quickly build-up or knock-down its recipients. One word emitting a great deal of comment is elderly. My father, an 82-year-old retiree, refuses to be identified as a senior. He prefers grey panther. He tells me that he wishes to be identified by the color of…
“Wealth is not new. Neither is charity. But the idea of using private wealth imaginatively, constructively, and systematically to attack the fundamental problems of mankind is new.” John Gardner Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The university was founded in 1636 by vote…
Glucose powers the brain and is the organ’s main fuel source. According to the Mayo Clinic, diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases that affect how the body uses blood sugar, known as glucose. Too much sugar in the blood can cause serious health problems. There are two main types…