Other Side of 50

If you’re an older adult and recent news reports about the firing of media icons Bill O’Reilly, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose and Garrison Keillor have rattled you, you’re not alone.  I’d like you to read these two statements: “Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times.” [...]

Recently my friend Ken sent me a link to a Washington Post article about protecting your Social Security number. The article was in response to the breach at Equifax—one of the top three credit reporting agencies—that had exposed the personal information of 145.5 million people earlier this year. On Oct. [...]

In my conversations with home-care agencies, residentialcare facilities and hands-on family caregivers, I hear an almost universal challenge: family members who are in denial about their senior loved one’s mental, physical or emotional health.  “Dad has never been violent,” says the son whose father with dementia punched the female caregiver [...]

My friend John surprised me last week when he told me that for the first time in a year he’d hauled out his computer to do some work. He said, “If I can’t do it on my smartphone these days, it doesn’t get done.” John’s specific demographic is embracing smartphone [...]

My parents have new neighbors. Jack and Carole, both in their early 80s, realized their cape-style home in Rhode Island was too much for them, with bedrooms on the second floor and the washer and dryer in the basement. They would soon need some help and decided a one-story home, [...]

The number of older people in emergency rooms is expected to increase significantly over the next 30 years, doubling in the case of those older than 65 and potentially tripling among those over 85. Our healthcare system is in critically short supply of primary care physicians and geriatric specialists to [...]

Last week I asked my mother if there was something she thought I should write about in my column. Quick to reply, she said, “How does one cope when their spouse is dying?” “What do you mean by cope?” I asked. “Are there things I should do? Are there ways [...]

I’ve recently discovered some programs that can help solve many of the challenges facing seniors. There are so many sources of help available today that it’s nearly impossible to have a handle on all of them at one time. Having a robust list by topic is very helpful. As with [...]

Imagine your longtime neighbor is an elderly gentleman who lives alone. He’s been in and out of the hospital over the last few months. He rarely sees his only child, a son who lives on the other side of the country. You pay your neighbor a social call upon his [...]

Over the years, I’ve watched family caregivers perform heroic acts in caring for their loved ones. I’ve seen spouses and adult children give up their work and social life—and essentially any semblance of freedom—to devote themselves 24/7. Many of these individuals began their caregiving journey years earlier, perhaps somewhat in [...]

Retirement can be a perfect time to learn something new. Look at former President George W. Bush, who began to paint after leaving office in 2009. Bush told friends and family he found the art form relaxing. He hired a teacher to help him, telling her he wanted to discover [...]

A widow with no children, Linda has volunteered for Senior Concerns’ Bargain Boutique and Thrift Shop for the past three years. On Jan. 17, her life changed dramatically. Scheduled to work at the boutique that day, Linda did not show up for her shift. Concerned, Karina, the boutique manager, called [...]

The month of May has several days celebrating special things. One of my favorites is May 25, 2017—National Chardonnay Day! On a more serious note, May 6 through 12 was National Nurses Week, which got me to thinking about the nurses who have made an impression on my life. One [...]

I distinctly remember the day I realized my father had something wrong with him. It was 1992, and my husband and I had recently moved to California. My parents came for their first visit to see us from their home in Cape Cod. One day on our way to lunch, [...]

Not long ago I received a call from some friends who were concerned about their elderly neighbor. The neighbor (I will call him Bob) was discovered by a friend. Bob had fallen in his home and was unable to get up. Paramedics were called to take Bob to the hospital. [...]

It’s just a tin cup. The kind that prisoners used to bang against the bars of their jail cells in old movies. The kind the chuck wagon cook used to dish up campfire stew for the cowboys. It’s exactly 8 ounces, with markings denoting ¼, ½, ¾ and 1 cup. [...]

A few weeks ago my husband and I were invited to a small dinner party. My friend wanted us to visit with his 90-year-old father, who was in town for a brief stay.   It had been a long time since I’d seen his father, maybe 20 years. Since then, [...]

The cost of medical and dental care is typically the largest expense for older Americans. Fortunately, some of these bills may be tax-deductible. The 2016 tax year could be the last time adults age 65 and older can take advantage of a lower threshold for deducting a portion of your [...]

We humans tend to take our senses for granted—until they stop working as well as they had in the past. It’s a well-known fact of life that our senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste) all decline as we age. Our vision, especially, tends to get worse with age. We [...]

My friend Lloyd, who has a demanding full-time job, is helping to care for his in-laws, who’ve moved closer to him due to their declining health. He shared with me that he’d been to the pharmacy eight times last month and was beginning to resent the amount of time he [...]