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The Senior Community Lifestyle
Dear Donna: How Can I Help Prevent the “Winter Blues”?
Dear Donna: My mom has always looked forward to the holiday season, but this year, she doesn’t seem to have her usual enthusiasm. She is sleeping more and is less interested in her favorite holiday activities. What can I do to help her prevent the winter blues? Kelly...
How to Prevent a Senior From Getting the Holiday Blues
Dear Donna, With the holiday season quickly approaching, I have what some people might think is a strange question. Last year, around mid-December, I noticed that my Mom seemed to be feeling down a lot. She’s 80, and I’m wondering if she was feeling a touch of the...
Sticking to a Restricted Diet During the Holiday Season
‘Tis the season of delicious food and holiday treats. Starting with that nice big Thanksgiving turkey and continuing through the remainder of the year with cookies, pie, eggnog, and more. It always seems that no celebration is free from enticing foods. From...
How to Safely Include a Senior with Dementia in Your Holiday Celebrations
One of the nicest things about the holiday season is the many opportunities we have for celebrating with friends and family. Between all the parties and family get-togethers, it’s traditionally a very social time of year. Naturally, you want to include everyone in the...
Tips to Avoid the Holiday Blues When You are a Family Caregiver
Judging from movies, TV commercials and the lyrics to popular carols, there’s no happier time than the holidays. The season is filled with nonstop cheer as people attend parties, create wonderful memories, and experience a generosity of spirit and goodwill that exists...
How to Prepare a Senior’s Home for a Michigan Winter
As strikingly beautiful as they are, winters in Michigan can also be very difficult for residents. This is especially true of the state’s senior population, for whom the snow, ice, and brutal cold of a Great Lakes winter can be dangerous. Preparing a senior’s home for...
Halloween & Dementia: Keeping a Senior with Alzheimer’s Safe
Halloween is a favorite time of year for many of us, young and old alike. The costumes, parties, and trick-or-treating are time-honored traditions enjoyed by people of all ages. But for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease, Halloween can be downright frightening....
How to Help a Senior Loved One Transition to Assisted Living
One of the best ways to help a loved one transition to assisted living may be by reflecting back on your own memories. What was it like to be ill or immobilized by an injury? What was it like to leave your kids when you dropped them off at kindergarten on the first...
Dear Donna – Can I Do Anything to Prevent Alzheimer’s?
My mom has Alzheimer’s and watching her slowly slip away is so awful. It also makes me worry that I will develop this awful disease. I’ve read some researchers think there may be genetic links to some forms of the disease. While I know there is nothing I can do about...
Alzheimer’s Action Day: How to Become an Advocate in Your Local Community
Alzheimer’s Action Day on September 21st provides a chance for early stage patients, caregivers, and others to share stories that help to increase awareness and end the stigma of Alzheimer’s disease. It can also be a turning point for people who choose to become a...
Seniors, It’s Time to Get Your Flu Shot!
Whether it’s autumn, winter or spring, no one has to explain the likely cause of these symptoms: chills, fever, body aches, fatigue, sore throat, runny nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhea. It’s probably the flu. And as we head in to flu season, it’s important for...
What questions Should I ask on My Assisted Living Tour?
Dear Donna: I am searching for an assisted living community for my mother and I know it’s important to visit and take tours. However, I don’t just want to see the building and grounds. I want to be sure I come away from the tour having learned what I need to know. The...