The holiday season is a joyful time for most people as they spend time with friends and family, eating delicious food and reminiscing about good times in years past. But for others, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is particularly difficult as they struggle with loneliness and grief for loved ones who are no [...]
A few weeks ago, Bluespire Insider, a marketing group that focuses on promoting senior living communities, hosted a virtual roundtable conversation about innovative ways to encourage social connections for residents of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs, or life plan communities), a subject I’m always interested in learning about. The roundtable was led by John Franklin [...]
In last week’s blog post, I wrote about 90-year-old oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and his inspiring attitude about growing older, despite several recent health setbacks. In the article, Pickens suggests being “the eternal optimist who is excited to see what the next decade will bring.” He continues: “I remain excited every day, engaged and thrilled [...]
There was a heartbreaking story in the Washington Post this week about an elderly man in China named Han Zicheng, who tried putting himself up for adoption. His wife had died years ago, and his adult sons had moved away and rarely called or visited. This 85-year-old man thought he would try to find a [...]
Last week’s post on people’s fear of catching the “old disease” got me thinking about a related topic that I often discuss when I present to groups: ageism and the so-called “invisible senior.” I wrote a blog post about this issue last fall, but I also recently gave a talk at the Key5 conference in [...]
The death of a spouse or partner is one of the most difficult experiences people will endure in life, requiring more psychological and behavioral adjustment than just about any other period of life transition. And there is ample research that confirms it. The Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study, conducted out of the University [...]
Isolation is the “silent killer” affecting an estimated 8 million seniors in the U.S., but it is an epidemic that often goes unnoticed and untreated, according to a panel of experts who testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging in April of this year. On average, 40 percent of seniors are impacted by the [...]
