Other Side of 50

The Senior Concerns Director of Nutrition, who leads the Meals On Wheels program, recently asked if I would write a column about why older adults should designate an emergency contact. She relayed that more Meals On Wheels clients than we would like do not identify an emergency contact in [...]

Just when I begin to wonder what to write about next, life offers up a moment -a lesson- and I am reminded that these everyday experiences often hold meaning worth sharing. Last week, my mom, who turned 91 on July 26th, woke up and the top of her right [...]

I have been on the phone with my sister for the last few days. She has some big decisions to make about her Medicare coverage, and it can be a confusing process. My sister turns 65 in October.  Because she is currently receiving Social Security benefits, she will automatically [...]

As I sit down to write this column, I’m looking forward to my book club meeting tonight. I love books. While as a group, we may only read four to five books a year, I read about 40. This year, I am on track to read 50. Ten years [...]

At age 91, my mother finally got hearing aids.It wasn’t the well-reasoned arguments that my sisters and I espoused, such as: Hearing loss is strongly linked to dementia and cognitive decline, and that hearing aids may help slow this by keeping the brain engaged.Or that hearing aids can help maintain relationships [...]

I recently received a letter from a reader concerned about a problem some of her friends are facing. Either they—or their spouse—have been released from the hospital but remain weak and in need of care. These are couples in their 80s or 90s, and she wonders if any type of [...]

Have you ever encountered a circumstance that totally alters your view of yourself, challenges your existing beliefs, and causes you to reevaluate your understanding of yourself and your place in the world? It happened to me a few weeks ago, not once, but twice. The first incident occurred at [...]

For many of us, uncertainty is at an all-time high. Well, at least for me. Whether one is feeling the unpredictability of politics, economic instability, global tensions, or situations affecting us in our own backyard, I sense an overarching tension as I talk to others. In fact, I just [...]

Recently, I attended the Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting. My coworker Julie and I were honored to accept a proclamation celebrating Senior Concerns’ 50 years of service to seniors and family caregivers in our community. Janice Parvin, Chair of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, noted that many [...]

That role may include physical assistance, emotional support, advocacy and care coordination, health monitoring, and long-term care planning. For many of us who have assumed the role of family caregiver (or had it thrust upon us), this crucial role in a loved one’s life in some ways defines us, [...]

Whose responsibility is it to remind older adult patients of their next programmed appointment? Let’s say a patient is supposed to have an in-office procedure every six months. For whatever reason, that appointment was not booked in advance. In a perfect world, both the physician’s office and the patient [...]

Every so often, I think of topics that are not deep enough to be the subject of an entire column but may be noteworthy. I call these tidbits because they are small and interesting items of information. Sharing my recent tidbits with you today. Hotel Stay Recently, my husband [...]

The other day I was talking to my mom about a challenging interaction I was having with a gentleman. My mom was amused at this person’s bad behavior.I jokingly told my mother, “If you think he is so funny, maybe you should spend time with him.”My mother quickly responded by [...]

Last week, the administration sent a memo seeking to pause potentially trillions of dollars in government loans, grants, and financial assistance. That memo was later rescinded, but it did create confusion and uncertainty, particularly in the nonprofit world. While we are not sure what the future holds, a substantial [...]

When I consider the word “home” it conjures up a safe haven. A place where one can live alone or with loved ones and a place to enjoy with friends. It’s a place to build memories and a place where we can truly just be ourselves. It is easy [...]

A friend stopped by over the holidays to say hello. I knew her from work activities, and we became friends, grabbing lunch occasionally and sharing anecdotes about our lives. She was a highly skilled individual, educated, and successful. I enjoy my time with her because our conversations are stimulating. [...]

My friend recently shared with me that after making plans for her mother and father to come to her house for Christmas, they unexpectedly changed their mind and told her they weren’t coming. The original plan was that one of her adult children would pick her parents up and [...]

Right after the Thanksgiving holiday, while we were chatting on the phone, I asked my 90-year-old mother what she was doing. She told me she was in the den in her recliner with her feet elevated. She explained that for the last few days her ankles were swollen and [...]

Recently, my mother’s 88-year-old sister fell. As she went down, her husband said, “You just broke your hip.” I am not sure if being a medic in the army sixty years ago qualified him to make that diagnosis, but he was right. My aunt and uncle live about 90 [...]

Conversations with aging parents require compassion I recently witnessed a conversation at a restaurant between a woman and her mother. The woman appeared to be in her fifties or sixties and her mother in her seventies or eighties. The waitress was quickly listing the specials of the day, looking [...]