Paula Span, in the New York Times “The New Old Age” section brings our attention to the phenomena of retirees leaving home to go to sunny Florida. A new film about a Florida retirement complex poses some difficult questions. The film is playing at the Jewish Film festival in San Francisco this week. The filmmaker, Sari Gilman, the granddaughter of a New Yorker couple of retirees, who shot the film in Kings Point, Florida, says: “The benefits of the age-segregated community seemed, in the end, to be a liability,” . As she spent time shooting at Kings Point, she learned that “there was a bit of a Darwinian bent to social life there. If you had your health, you were popular. If your health started to fail, there were whispers around the pool: ‘Ida’s going down.’ ” Read the article
Posts Tagged ‘senior wellness’
Ten Medications Older Adults Should Avoid or Use with Caution
Because older adults often experience chronic health conditions that require treatment with multiple medications, there is a greater likelihood of experiencing unwanted drug side effects. Older people can also be more sensitive to certain medications. To help you make better informed decisions about your medications, and to lower your chances of overmedication and serious drug reactions, the American Geriatrics Society Foundation for Health in Aging recommends that older people be cautious about using the following types of medications, including some that can be purchased without a prescription (over-the-counter). See List of Medicines
Playing softball despite Parkinson’s disease
Despite having Parkinson’s disease for the past 10 years, Bob Soulen, 69, continues to play in the Montgomery County Senior Softball League.
The Washington Post published a story and a video about Bob Soulen a well known athlete with Parkinson’s disease :”….The big first baseman trudges across the pristine infield, his walker leaving a crooked trail in the dirt. He has bandages on his knees, a bald spot where he hit his head against a door frame and an old shoulder dislocation from a spill at home… But it’s game time. The hot afternoon is giving way to the shadows of evening. And Bob Soulen, 69, who has Parkinson’s disease, is going to play some ball.
Twenty miles away, 30,000 people have streamed into Nationals Park to see Washington’s young pitching sensation, Stephen Strasburg. Here on Field No. 5 in Montgomery County’s Wheaton Regional Park, a lone fan – the wife of an opposing player – sits in the bleachers to witness a different phenomenon: an aging physicist’s determination to cling to the game of his youth.
As Soulen shuffles across the dirt, the other Mustangs are arriving, limbering up and playing catch, and Soulen is careful to lift his walker over the fresh white streak of the foul line. Like the diamond, the evening seems perfect, and in a few minutes there will be a pale moon rising over center field.
Robert J. Soulen Jr. of North Bethesda is a retired award-winning scientist who worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Naval Research Laboratory. His area of expertise is superconductivity as it relates to temperature measurement and ship propulsion.
He also plays softball in Montgomery’s senior leagues and can wax about the laws of physics as they relate to bat vs. ball…” Read the story
Improving function and safety through Environmental Geriatrics
Environmental Geriatrics is the study and application of design principles to interiors and products to optimize the health, function, and well-being of older adults.
Cornell University’s Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology offers resources on Alzheimer’s friendly home, fall and fire prevention, hoarding and cluttering. Learn more.
Can We Stop Aging Parents From Complaining?
Sometimes aging parents complain because we try to get them to make choices they don’t like. Customized care at home can make them and us happier. Carolyn Rosenblatt advocates freedom, flexibility and choices.
International Symposium on Healthy Aging: Monday, September 13, 1pm-5pm
Co-Sponsored by: UCB School of Public Health; the UCB Retirement Center; the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services, School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley; UCB Resource Center on Aging; UCB Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; Kazamashobo Publishing, Co. Ltd.
The Symposium on Healthy Aging will address three issues. The first is to clarify predictors of longevity among older adults in the United States, Sweden, and Japan. The second is to examine healthy aging among immigrants in the United States, Sweden, and Japan. Lastly, we will propose recommendations for health care policies for diverse older adults, making use of the perspectives from these three countries.
Please note: seating is limited, so please respond as soon as possible. RSVP with your name and email address to Kazumi Hoshino, Ph.D., planning committee member, at hoshino@berkeley.edu by September 9, 2010.
