Month: September 2024
What is your role at Aging Wisdom?
Director of Creative Engagement
What made you want to work in the field of aging?
Dementia is in my family – I’ve lost two grandparents to dementia and now my mother is living with it. When my paternal grandmother died in 2007, I began volunteering with Alzheimer’s organizations. My maternal grandfather died from the disease in 2014 – the summer after my first year of graduate school where I was first introduced to the idea of “creative aging” and started volunteering with the Frye Art Museum. It married two loves for me – older adults and art. That year was full of “what if’s” thinking about my grandparents’ care and engagement. I knew we could do better as a family, community and country in taking care of older adults. …
As we transition from summer to fall, the seasonal change serves as a good reminder to brush up on Fall Prevention. Preventing and reducing the risk of falls, and helping older adults live without fear of falling is essential.
Falls remain the leading cause of injury and death for people age 65+. Implementing fall prevention steps can go a long way to improve safety and support independence.
Fortunately, most falls can be prevented. Understanding the common factors that cause or contribute to falls is a good place to start: …
On any given weekday, my Creative Engagement colleagues are tapping into the richness of clients’ interests, histories, talents, and strengths. These intentional connections help reduce social isolation and loneliness, renew purpose, increase self-esteem, engage the senses, and spark joy. …
Deciding how to divide assets among one’s children is often challenging. The challenges only multiply in a step- or blended family situation. Today, about one-quarter of all marriages include stepchildren. Among remarried couples, almost two-thirds involve children from a previous relationship.
Blended families can look like any other family, but the dynamics are very different, emotionally and legally. …