Helping Older Parents

Wondering whether you should worry? Having trouble getting parents to accept help? Overwhelmed by challenges and concerns?

This part of the site is especially for you! It includes our hand-picked articles, tips, & resources for people helping older parents.

Coronavirus Update & Suggestions (3.27.20 Edition)

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH 13 Comments

Like many of you, I’ve been following the recent coronavirus developments closely.

This month, I’ve devoted my twice-monthly Helping Older Parents members calls to this topic, plus recorded an additional commentary last week.

As expected, a lot has changed since last week. So I have recorded another video commentary today, with updates. This one covers:

What I’ve recently learned about the clinical course of COVID
If you think you (or your older relative) might be sick with coronavirus
What to know about hospitalization for this, and how a “surge” situation might affect that
Options for care at home, including palliative care
My latest recommendations on planning ahead and then hoping for the best.

Also, in the video I forgot to mention that one of my favorite clinical sources is currently making its coronavirus topic free to the public: Uptodate.com: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The video is below, or get the audio-only through the podcast here.
(For those who have asked about transcripts: I wish I could but right now we are too short on funding; transcripts cost $1.25/minute to produce plus more time to format and finalize.)

Please stay as safe as you can, and take care!

Related resources:

[Read more…]

Coronavirus Update & Suggestions (3.20.20 Edition)

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH 18 Comments

Like many of you, I’ve been following the recent coronavirus developments closely.

Last week, I devoted my twice-monthly Helping Older Parents members call to this topic, and took the unusual step of posting it to the BHWA podcast. (Find it here, now with video included.)

And of course, a lot has changed since then and now. So I have recorded another video commentary today, with updates and also suggestions on discussing safety and social distancing with aging parents. The video is below, or get the audio-only through the podcast here.

Please stay as safe as you can, and take care!

Related resources:

[Read more…]

6 Steps to Better High Blood Pressure Treatment for Older Adults

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH 100 Comments

Have you been concerned about high blood pressure (hypertension)? Or are you worried about an older relative having a stroke or heart attacks?

You’re not alone. After all, hypertension is the most common chronic condition among older adults, and medications for blood pressure (BP) are among the most commonly taken drugs in the US.

Even more important: poorly controlled hypertension is a major contributor to the most common causes of death and disability in older adults: strokes, heart attacks, and heart failure.

So it’s certainly sensible for older adults – and for those helping aging parents – to think about blood pressure.

And once you start thinking about high blood pressure, you’ll probably start to wonder.

Are the blood pressure medications you’re taking enough? Is your blood pressure at the “right” level or should you and your doctors work on changing things?

And what about that major research – the SPRINT trial — that made the news in 2015? (In this study, older adults randomized to aim for a lower BP did better than those who got “standard” BP treatment.)

These are excellent questions to ask, so I’d like to help you answer them.

Now, I can’t provide exact answers on the Internet. But what I can do is provide a sensible process that will help you successfully address these questions.

In this article, I’ll share with you the process that I use to:

Assess an older person’s blood pressure management plan, and
Determine whether we should attempt changes.

If you’re an older adult, you can use this approach to get started assessing your own BP management plan. This will help you to better work with your doctors on assessing and managing your blood pressure.

If you are helping an older relative manage health, you can follow these steps on behalf of your relative. [Read more…]

How to Choose the Safest Over-the-Counter Painkiller for Older Adults

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH 111 Comments

Q: My 88-year old mother often complains of various aches and pains. What is the safest over-the-counter painkiller for her to take? Aren’t some of them bad for your liver and kidneys?

A: Frequent aches and pains are a common problem for older adults.

If your mother has been complaining, you’ll want to make sure she gets a careful evaluation from her doctor. After all, frequent pain can be the sign of an important underlying health problem that needs attention. You’re also more likely to help your mom reduce her pains if you can help her doctors identify the underlying causes of her pain.

That said, it’s a good idea to ask what over-the-counter analgesics are safest for older people.

That’s because improper use of OTC painkillers is actually a major cause of harm to older adults.

So let me tell you what OTC painkiller geriatricians usually consider the safest, and which very common group of painkillers you should look out for.

What’s the safest OTC painkiller for an older parent?

[Read more…]

Top 10 Checklist for Better Health & Aging in 2020

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH 33 Comments

Do you find yourself taking stock and setting goals around the time of New Year’s?

It is indeed a great time to look back and see all that’s happened — especially the good stuff — since the previous New Year.

And although one can set goals at any time of year, the start of the calendar year is a time that seems to inspire many people to think about their health and how to thrive over the coming year.

If better health while aging is important to you, here are my top ten suggestions for the coming year. [Read more…]

Helping Older Parents

Related resources:

Related resources:

What’s the safest OTC painkiller for an older parent?

Disclaimer