changehoweage

04/26/2026

Japan has led in all things aging and caregiving for so long now. We really need to model their respect and care for our elders and the disabled. So moving!💛

Bodybuilders, sumo wrestlers and MMA fighters have started working at Japan’s short-staffed nursing homes in exchange for a steady income and gym memberships.

07/13/2025

Finally got a chance to watch PBS’s excellent documentary on “Caregiving” (co-executive produced by Bradley Cooper who helped care for his own dad) last night!

It features so many of the real-life 🦸🏽‍♀️heroes, heroines and families caring for children, parents, spouses and strangers and caregiver advocates like Ai-Jen Poo of Caring Across Generations that I have followed for over 10 years now.

The numbers and costs of unpaid or uninsured full-time+ and part-time caregivers are outlined throughout the film. With over 10K Americans-per-day turning 65, these challenges will only continue to increaese for us all.

Highly recommend every American 🇺🇸 (and even my friends abroad!) watch this one. We can only fix a broken system with every single citizen’s awareness and investment. You can stream “Caregiving” for free at PBS.org, watch on YouTube’s PBS channel or via ctpublic.org/caregiving. (And yes, you might need some tissues, too!)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32321785/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Caregiving: Directed by Chris Durrance. Explores systemic issues in the US care system, where over 50 million provide unpaid care, and personal stories of caregivers for loved ones.

06/13/2025

Even though it's been a while since I've posted here, the mission is not forgotten, just on 'a temporary hold' while I've been focused on some other projects.

Below is a a very handy guide for those of you wondering about any of your loved ones' potential memory loss or behavioral changes from the Alzheimer's Association. Each person ages and every couple and family interact differently, so it's important to have regular check-ins – preferably which last more than a few hours, include all times of day and potential surprise visits – before you may notice any issues.

One of the first signs my dad Mike noticed in my mom Marie was when she started to speak about him in the third person while he was a part of the conversation at dinner one night when they were still living in independent living at The Village at Incarnate Word in San Antonio where they lived from April of 2008-10.

As a grammarian/writer/reporter (Mike!) who was also married to a very brilliant communicator and great judge of character (Marie!), I remember the day he called me to mention this being a 'strange' thing that she had never done before that worried him. I listened with concern as well and promised to follow-up on it.

Later that year, we got her official dementia diagnosis after taking her to a neurologist who specialized in seniors – she was around 85 at the time. We later realized her earlier symptoms may have been masked by my dad's vigilant presence and daily help due to her macular degeneration diagnosis earlier (she had been declared 'legally blind' and had stopped driving in her late 70s), as well as likely having suffered from anxiety and depression off-and-on for some years.

We were already employing some low-vision-friendly systems for taking her meds that he helped manage, as well as using other visual aids and tools. All was managed by visiting RNs and part-time caregivers we hired to come to their apartment.

Listen to your parents' concerns – they usually don't want to alarm you until long after this disease may start to affect their own lives and well-being and be sure to review this list if you are unsure of the differences between normal aging and severe memory loss and daily functioning. https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/10_signs?utm_source=10signs.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=10signs

[Photo taken at Marie's birthday dinner at one of their favorite French restaurants, Vatel in San Antonio around 2009-10.]

04/04/2025

Yet another good reason to get your Shingles vaccine!

A growing body of research suggests that preventing the viral infection can help stave off cognitive decline.

01/19/2025

Jamie-Lee Curtis has always been a heroine and a trailblazer. This piece on her performance in The Last Showgirl is fascinating, can’t wait to see this movie (and all on my current Oscar/Golden Globe list).

“This word ‘anti-aging’ has to be struck,” she said in an interview. “I am pro aging. I want to age with intelligence, and grace, and dignity, and verve, and energy. I don’t want to hide from it.”

In “The Last Showgirl,” Jamie Lee Curtis upends a host of cinematic clichés about women.

01/17/2025

Fascinating piece in the AustinFreePress.org by Sharon Jayson on Austin's fast-growing older population and the City and community's many challenges to serving and supporting everyone as they age, especially when it comes to transportation, housing, healthcare, work options, cybersecurity and affordability.

“Austin is young and hip, but we are getting older," said Jacqueline Angel. "East Austinite Barbara Scott says many older people complain about how much life focuses on phone apps and being online. “Communicating with the city is more of a challenge,” she said. “Communicating with people, period, is more of a challenge.”

Perhaps we can all work on ways to communicate better with each other – especially with anyone over 65 we may be forgetting – especially in person (vs. online) in 2025. (And yes, my posting this on FB means the irony doesn't escape me, but still the best way to immediately share this great piece.) Great work, Sharon! Thank you for your work in this booming space!🤓

Full of aging baby boomers, Austin also attracts inflows of parents — and grandparents — of younger city residents.

01/16/2025

Many of us who have experienced loss, grief or PTSD around any of these memories and emotions may be triggered by the devastation, shock and loss to the horrific fires in Los Angeles, and many of us also have friends and family there who are experiencing this directly. Some sage advice on how to reach out and help with what you say is in this article from The Los Angeles Times linked below with which I totally agree from my own past experience:

"Telling someone to look on the bright side or saying, ‘At least you have this,’ invalidates people’s grieving process, and people need to grieve,” she [Claire Bidwell Smith, therapist and grief expert] said. “It comes from a place of wanting people to feel better, but we have to be really careful not to use toxic positivity.”

Sometimes it's just better to say, "Are you O.K.? or "I'm here for you and love you." 🙏

Experts in processing grief and trauma say there's no right way to comfort a friend during a time of devastation. The most important thing is that you reach out.

01/20/2024

People 75 and up are the fastest growing segment of the workforce, according to recent analysis from the Pew Research Center.”

Finding ways to value and empower four generations in the workplace (Boomer, Gen X, Millennials + Gen Z) demands that we let go of old paradigms, hierarchies, projections and prejudices based on age, appearance, background or perceived experience.

“Marketplace Tech” demystifies the digital economy.

10/01/2023

Honest and important to remember as we become impatient with both ourselves and others. Respect!

Getting old is no joke. It just looks funny.

06/11/2023

Excellent 5-minute read on the beautiful advantages of better choices, freedom, wisdom and self-knowledge tempered by less time ahead, but more time to shine. Thanks for the recommendation to read !

A new way to look at what it means to be a late bloomer.