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A caregiver is a person in charge of providing specific and often specialized care to older adults and people with chronic diseases. In other words, they are committed to accompanying and improving the quality of life of the person they care for. Caregivers fulfill the task of facilitating and providing care for the basic and instrumental activities of daily living that an older person cannot perform or in which they require some type of support, due to physical or mental disability. Taking on the commitment of caring for a loved one brings...
Obtaining the best health care involves good communication between you and your doctor. Today I will help explain how you can build an effective relationship with your doctor and make the most of your visits. Communicate well with your health care provider Communication is very important when building relationships with your health care providers and getting the best possible care. To help you communicate with your providers, take the following steps: Be prepared. Arrive at your doctor’s o...
Wikipedia reveals that the modern Mother’s Day holiday was first celebrated in 1907. Anna Jarvis campaigned to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday beginning in 1905, when her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis passed. Anna’s mother had been a peace activist and had cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War and had been urging for a “Mother’s Day for Peace”, asking that husbands and sons would no longer be killed in wars. Anna Jarvis had wanted to honor this and set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a...
Q: My daughter has recently gotten divorced and previous occasional visits with grandchildren has now turned into full-time care, due to an absent father and a daughter who cannot afford to care for them on her own. How do I handle the ambivalence towards this situation? A: These days with circumstances of divorce, incarceration of a parent, death of the children’s parents, or when a family situation changes, it becomes a new beginning for older adults when they start caring for their g...
There's something to be said for strength in numbers. Joining a club where you live, or where you go to vacation, even on short visits, gives you that advantage of numbers: New people to play with, and more options for venues. When I plan travel, one of the first things I look for are clubs and venues in the area where I'm going. You can find options at this website, https://www.places2play.org/, or you can just Google "Pickleball" and the city or area you are traveling to. Usually, clubs in...
"Here is something you might like to take a look at," Dad commented back in spring 2005 as he brought me a worn manila colored bundle tied with string. Dad had been puttering around looking for something on the shelves where he kept important items, while I sat on the nearby couch at his home in Homer tying a quilt. Before removing the quarter inch thick string, I read the address: "Miss Martine Burdick; Alaska Nurses Association; Seward San; Bartlett, Alaska," and noted the February 1954...
This coming Memorial Day, it seems fitting to honor the sacrifice that America's brave military made in the Aleutians 80 years ago this month. Under the mistaken belief the Doolittle Raiders had taken off from an air base in the Aleutian chain to bomb Tokyo during spring 1942, Japanese forces bombed Dutch Harbor two months later. They then proceeded to occupy the islands of Kiska and Attu, although most Americans had no idea the enemy was entrenched on our soil – no enemy had occupied A...
No doubt many a teenage lad, and even a few adults, developed a major crush on Barbara Eden during her five-season run in the 1960s sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie." Now 91, fans are delighted to see the actress looking so youthful and healthy. "I have exercised all my life and now do a mild spin (stationary) bicycle and walking," Eden said from her home in Los Angeles. "I've always been careful about what I eat but I'm not fanatic about it – I'm a carnivore! I try to stay away from sugar, but u...
One of my guilty pleasures is watching the latest celebrity “trial of the month” on Court TV, and I definitely tracked the recent Alex Murdaugh murder trial. If you haven’t been following it, Alex Murdaugh was a powerful lawyer in South Carolina, who is accused of murdering his wife and his 22-year-old son. He claimed he was elsewhere at the time of the murder, but police found a cell phone on one of the victims, with video taken just before the murders, and you can hear Alex’s voice in the back...
This month’s Tech Talk is a little different. Nearly all of it was written by a computer. This technology has been under development for decades. It has been a staple of science fiction movies since I was a kid. Recently, one of the most advanced chat robots ever constructed was made public. ChatGPT has washed across tech like a tsunami. The only thing anyone seems to agree on is that the world has changed forever — whether for better or worse remains to be seen. What follows is the transcript of an interview I did with ChatGPT. I did not cha...
I periodically listen to a New York Times podcast called "The Daily." A recent show was entitled, "The Online Search Wars Got Scary. Fast." Of course, I had to listen to that one. In this episode the moderator interviewed a long-time NYT technology analyst, Kevin Roose. Roose is normally a rather blasé "been-there-done-that" kind of guy when he discusses the latest whiz-bang developments in technology -- but not this time. He was freaked out and shaken up. Here's what happened. Bing is...
Q: Getting older makes me feel less sharp. Why don’t I catch on to things as quickly as I used to? A: Faster. Better. Younger. Smarter. Not necessarily. By definition “latent learning” can occur at any age. This means you can learn or observe something subconsciously. Then, you can repeat that behavior at a later time. While it is true that concept formation, abstract thinking and mental flexibility declines with age (especially after age 70), it does not mean you lack capacity to learn. Some...
According to the definition provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 years old is the age at which one is considered an older adult. Aging is understood, in a biological sense, as the result of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This means that, as we age, our physical and mental abilities and faculties decline. This process leads to an increased risk of disease and, ultimately, death. However, these changes are neither linear nor uniform, and their link to a person’s age is rather r...
Receiving home health care can be available for some Medicare recipients. To be eligible for Medicare coverage of home health services, you must be homebound. In other words, it must be difficult for you to leave your home and doing so requires a lot of effort. Medicare considers you homebound if you need help to leave your home. The help you need can be from another person or from medical equipment such as crutches, a walker or a wheelchair. You are also considered homebound if your doctor...
Housing affordability continues to be one trend that remains top of mind for many homeowners and prospective buyers. With interest rates rising, some experts suggest we may see a decrease in home prices. However, housing supply remains historically low. Because home costs continue to climb in many areas, it’s more important than ever to do your homework before hiring someone to perform work on your home. BBB recommends the following tips for finding trustworthy contractors and caring for your home. Hire reliable contractors. No matter what k...
Spring weather makes me think of summer's influx of visitors to our wonderful state and I am reminded of our years living in Slana running a bed and breakfast in our home. My husband Gary and I provided a home away from home for many people from 2001 through 2006. Each year was busier than the one before, until we stopped serving the public due to health reasons – first my dad's and then my own. I was surprised how disappointed I was to close our business when we did. I had doubts back in 2...
Have you ever wondered how the mall that sits at Northern Lights Boulevard and the New Seward Highway got its start? This Anchorage landmark opened its doors to the public for the first time 55 years ago. When shoppers streamed into The Mall, then Alaska's largest shopping center, on Jan. 31, 1968, they found a covered, weather-conditioned facility anchored by Sears Roebuck Company at one end and the newest Carr's Quality Food Center at the other. The Mall was the brainchild of Lawrence J....
A long time ago – around the time I was born, actually – there was a young man from Mississippi who had some success as a singer. He bought a nice house in Memphis, married a beautiful actress, and had a daughter. And then at the age of 42 he died, leaving most of his assets in trust for his then-young daughter. I'm talking, of course, about Elvis Presley. You might have picked up in the news recently that his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, died unexpectedly at the age of 54. You might or mig...
Q. Every few weeks my iPhone nags me with an alert that my storage is almost full. What should I do? A. There are two common storage errors on iPhone. One is “Storage Almost Full” and the other is “iCloud Storage Almost Full.” There may be minor variations in the words based on your device’s version, but the idea is the same. Take both of these messages seriously, because a cascade of very bad things are about to happen. The biggest danger is when the warning simply states that storage is almost full. This message implies your device is not con...
Nearly 20,500 Alaskans are all too familiar with the toll that Alzheimer’s takes on their loved ones every day. Although new drug trials show promise for treatment, this disease currently has no cure and new diagnoses are being made every day. While few are unfamiliar with this disease, many don’t know that the signs and symptoms go beyond just memory loss. Individuals may experience personality changes, behavioral changes, sleep cycle changes, and more. As many new treatments are only effective in the early stages of the disease, it’s impor...
It is well known that the Hispanic population has the second highest obesity rates in the world: More than 60% of Hispanics are overweight or obese. Both conditions occur when there is an excessive accumulation of body fat, especially in adipose tissue, subsequently leading to increased body weight. These conditions can be clinically detected through the Body Mass Index (BMI), with simple and easily measurable parameters. When the BMI is over 25, one is considered overweight and when the indicator is over 30, one is considered obese. This is no...
Enrollment into Medicare or choosing different Medicare coverage may only happen during specific times of the year. This month we will learn about these enrollment periods, so you can make the most of them. As a reminder, initial Medicare enrollment is processed through the Social Security Administration, whether in-person during an appointment, over the telephone, or by going online through Social Security’s website. Know when to sign up for Medicare for the first time You may be a...
Sometimes life isn’t easy. Dealing with the unexpected is difficult and can at times impact our ability to pay the bills. If you are an Anchorage resident, age 60 or older, residing between Girdwood and Chugiak, have a utility delinquent notice and are experiencing a financial hardship which threatens your household’s ability to pay your utility bill, the Anchorage Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) may be able to help. Please contact us directly at 907-343-7770. Experienced specialists will help guide you to the resources that are the...
Q: My grandfather went in to get one tooth repaired and came away with several thousand dollars of dental work performed. Is there anything I can do? What actions can prevent this from happening again? A: Overtreatment is the term used to describe unnecessary or extensive therapies. A patient may refuse treatment as long as they can understand their decision, the implications of that decision, and can act in their own best interest. Advocacy on behalf of those harmed due to excessive procedures...
For various reasons, I had not cleaned out my email inbox for almost a year. So, last October I spent a whole weekend purging and filing. Not surprisingly, the majority of emails were from my two friends, Linda and Janet. Hundreds of them. We three helped each other get through the Covid pandemic – what could have otherwise been a lonely time. We've known each other since the early 1980s when we all lived in Cooper Landing and were in our 20s and 30s. My husband, Gary, and I moved there in A...
