Category: Navigating Aging

The Health Care Promises We Cannot Keep

Family caregivers pledge to fulfill their loved ones’ end-of-life wishes. But too often circumstances change, and they must break their word and guard against breaking hearts ― including their own.

As His Wife’s Caregiver, A Doctor Discovers What’s Missing At Health Care’s Core

Harvard psychiatrist Arthur Kleinman shed his “veil of ignorance” during 11 years serving as the primary family caregiver for his wife, who had a rare form of early Alzheimer’s disease. In a new book, “The Soul of Care,” he offers suggestions for transforming health care ― just as caregiving transformed him.

When Caring For A Sick Spouse Shakes A Marriage To The Core

A long illness creates a real risk: that the relationship will be undermined and essential emotional connections lost.

The Delicate Issue Of Taking Away A Senior’s Smartphone

Knowing when — and how — to limit a loved one’s access to digital devices is akin to taking their car keys.

In Search Of Age-Friendly Health Care, Finding Room For Improvement

Simple alterations — like better signs, seating, parking or door design — can make it easier for older patients to navigate health care facilities. Here are several changes doctors’ offices, clinics and hospitals could make.

Feds Pave The Way To Expand Home Dialysis — But Patients Hit Roadblocks

What changes are needed to bring home dialysis to more patients — especially older adults, the fastest-growing group of patients with serious, irreversible kidney disease? We asked nephrologists, patient advocates and dialysis company officials for their thoughts.

Feds Pave The Way To Expand Home Dialysis — But Patients Hit Roadblocks

What changes are needed to bring home dialysis to more patients — especially older adults, the fastest-growing group of patients with serious, irreversible kidney disease? We asked nephrologists, patient advocates and dialysis company officials for their thoughts.

What The Trump Home Dialysis Plan Would Really Look Like

It takes more than an executive order to shift kidney disease patients from dialysis centers to home care. These patients show it takes discipline, skill, will and support.

The Talk Seniors Need To Have With Doctors Before Surgery

Surgeons are rethinking the old notions of “informed consent.” With older patients especially, a push is on to talk candidly about what a surgery will do, its risks and how it will affect their quality of life.

More Seniors Are Dying In Falls. Doctors Could Do More To Reduce The Risk.

Doctors should assess older adults for the risk of falling, come up with individualized plans and refer seniors to physical therapists, occupational therapists and evidence-based programs.