ElderAuthority.com

Family Caregiving and The Conversation Project

Death & Denial
No one wants to talk about death, grief, loss or incapacitation. So we don’t.  The statistics are awful.

Most people say that making sure their family is not burdened by tough decisions is “extremely important,” yet  56% have not communicated their end-of-life wishes
70% of people say they prefer to die at home, but only 30% get that wish
While 80% of people say that if seriously ill, they would want to talk to their doctor about end-of-life… More

Doing Work That Matters

Betty Tisdale turns 90 this year. She is in Kabul, Afghanistan, to open “House of Flowers”, Afghanistan’s first licensed nursery for orphans. It is also the first Montessori school in Afghanistan. There are 31 orphans in the program. Another 1000 are on the waiting list. “House of Flowers” is just one product of Ms. Tisdale’s organization, HALO (Helping and Loving Orphans).
Betty Tisdale earned the name, “Angel of Saigon,”… More

Longevity Factor: How Much Do You Sit?

Sitting Decreases Life Expectancy
A recently published study in the online journal, BMJ Open, links decreased life expectancy to sedentary behavior.

Sitting 3 hours per day, reduces life expectancy by two years.
Watching TV more than 2 hours per day, reduces life expectancy by another 1.4 years.
People who watch TV 4 hours a day are 46% more likely to die of any cause than people who watch less than 2 hours per day.
People watching TV 4 hours a day  are 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular… More

SENIORS TEXTING OR SIGNS OF DEMENTIA?

REDEFINING THE VOCABULARY OF AGING
In November 2009, I penned an article on our sister site, TheNewElder.com,  titled, “The Vocabulary of Aging”  in which I suggested that the Baby Boomers have an opportunity to redefine vocabulary related to aging, senior citizens, eldercare, and longevity.  We did it for the computer age (“bandwidth”, “email”, “googling”, “web”, “interface”, etc.).… More

IMPACT OF LONGEVITY ON BABY BOOMERS

HUMAN LIFESPAN INCREASES
Some of us may soon be able to live to ages not seen since the days of the Old Testament prophets.  Lifestyle changes and advances in medical science are rapidly adding years to much of the world’s population.  Americans are living an average of 3.5 years longer today than they did in 1980.
Old Testament prophets’ aside, the life span for most Homo sapiens was only about 19-20 years during most of our time on this earth.   Life was tough.  Hunting,… More