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We sit down with Michael Pessman, a gerontologist, to discuss the unique risks older adults face with alcohol consumption. We’ll explore the enhanced physical and mental health benefits of participating in Dry January, …
Exploring the benefits of Dry January for older adults [PODCAST]
As Dry January gains popularity and inspires millions of people to abstain from alcohol for a month, its focus appears to be geared towards young adults. A demographic that is often overlooked, but is likely to benefit significantly from this movement, is older adults. The National Survey on Drug Use and Heavy Drinking found that nearly 39 percent of adults aged 65 or older drink …
Dry January’s untold value for older adults: a health revolution beyond youth
Now that we are embarking on a new year, many of us take on annual resolutions with a focus on diet and exercise. Overlooked is another important way to improve our health: increasing awareness of our medications.
Nearly 4 in 10 adults over the age of 65 living in the United States are prescribed five or more medications. Sometimes these medications are necessary. But sometimes, they may need adjusting or …
Now is a good time to reassess your medications with your clinician
Call it what you want: nursing home, skilled nursing facility, rehab center, convalescent home, or post-acute care. They are all the same and a common destination should you survive a recent hospitalization.
But they all have an existing reputation and can ultimately diminish the dignity of older adults. Never in my four decades of practice has anyone ever said, “Please, Dr. Dorio, send me to a nursing home!”
As a geriatric physician, …
Nursing homes: How they impact the dignity of older adults
PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, has long been considered the best-kept secret in the American health care system. It’s time to unveil this hidden gem. The health and well-being of older Americans – and the future of our health care system itself – may hinge on it.
Originating nearly half a century ago with the On Lok program in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the PACE model has since …
Let the secret out by expanding older adults’ access to PACE
An excerpt from A Caregiver’s Love Story.
Many people will become caregivers in their lifetime, or on the other hand, may need one. A “caregiver” is anyone who gives basic assistance and cares for someone who might be ill, disabled, or frail. There are a wide variety of tasks …
Essential caregiver roles and self-care tips
Today, more than one in five Americans are caregivers, providing care to an adult or child with special needs at some time in the past 12 months. Given this sobering statistic, I’m surprised we do not see as many health narratives written by caregivers as, say, doctors and patients, at least not in print.
Caregiving is emotionally draining. However, writing when you are in a caregiving role is one of a …
Expressive writing reduces caregiver stress
Older adults have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. While Canadians aged 60 years and older make up only 20 percent of the population, they account for 69.5 percent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations, and most — 91.7 percent — of all COVID-19 deaths.
One aspect of health care during the pandemic that has received considerably less attention is the failure of effective delirium care.
COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals
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Welcome to our insightful podcast episode featuring Rosanne M. Leipzig, a renowned geriatrician and author of the enlightening book, Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life. Join us as we delve into the …
Unlocking the secrets to aging well [PODCAST]
She sat in the hospital bed, staring out the window as the nurse flitted in and out of the room, adjusting IV lines and checking her vitals. It had been a long time since she’d been in a hospital, but at 75 years old, her health was beginning to fail. She knew that she was considered “elderly” now, but she didn’t feel old. She still had so much life left, …
Unlock the secrets to aging gracefully: specialized care and support for elderly patients
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In this episode, Sheetal Gambhir, a geriatrician, discusses the importance of feet in preventing falls in elderly patients. She shares insights on what to look for in shoes, including surface area, heel height, and sole consistency. She …
Preventing falls in seniors: the surprising role of shoes [PODCAST]
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We welcome Shannon Dowler, a family physician and author of the book Never Too Late: Your Guide to Safer Sex after 60. In this episode, we delve into the sexual revolution that began in the 1960s and …
Safe sex for seniors: Dispelling myths and embracing safe practices [PODCAST]
An excerpt from Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life. Copyright 2023. Published with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.
The key to aging well lies within you, the attitudes and responses you have to growing older and entering old age. Yes, there will be inevitable physical …
8 practices for a happier old age
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In this episode, we welcome Alan Lindemann, an obstetrics-gynecology physician, to discuss the issue of autonomy and treatment for elderly patients. He shares his experiences in the long-term care setting, and the disturbing trend of interpreting do …
A fine line between DNR and denied treatment for the elderly [PODCAST]
If you did not know all that I know about feet, you would think geriatricians (doctors for patients 65+ years old) have a foot fetish. We are obsessed with feet, but in a good way. You see, feet play a big role in balance and preventing falls. We really care about our elder patients’ health, which is why we care about what our patients wear. Falls kill, and if one …
Geriatric foot care 101: How shoes can help reduce the risk of falls
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In this episode, Nancie Wiseman Attwater discusses her husband Bill’s struggle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Despite the doctor’s advice to change his diet, Nancie realized that it was probably too late for that to make a difference. …
When the doctor’s advice isn’t enough: a caregiver’s perspective [PODCAST]
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on long-term care in Canada. During the first two waves in 2020, over 80 percent of all Canadian COVID-19 deaths happened in long-term care homes. While vaccination and policy changes have helped to reduce the number of deaths, long-term care homes are still experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks and severe staffing shortages.
The people who provide front-line care to our most vulnerable seniors in long-term care have experienced …
Care aides in long-term care were traumatized during COVID-19
I just walked 120 km over five days on the South Downs Way along the southeast coast of the United Kingdom. It was a beautiful walk through the pastoral English countryside, culminating in the dramatic chalk cliffs near the coastal town of Eastbourne. While not a technically difficult walk, there were certainly enough hills to climb, high winds, and rainy days to make us ready for our evening pub dinners.
Start walking to improve health and well-being
There is one guarantee in life: you will age, no matter how hard you try not to. Some age with more grace than others, and some age so quickly it’s astonishing. Aging can come quickly or slowly, it is not necessarily determined by your age but the whole dynamics of the life you have lived and perhaps your relatives’ lives before you.
Aging isn’t just the change from dark hair to …
The slow progression of aging: Let compassion reign
Canada needs trauma-informed aged care, training, and strategies in long-term care homes across the country.
“Trauma” is a heavy word, but it’s the right word.
“Trauma” describes what has been happening in long-term care facilities across Canada during the pandemic, where the majority of COVID-19 deaths have occurred and where highly restrictive visitor policies and short staffing have meant extreme isolation and deprivation for the residents who live there.
But there are often …
We need trauma-informed care in long-term care homes
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