Useful Links Archives - Better Health While Aging

Coronavirus Info: What to Expect Regarding Hospitalization (3.27.20)

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

In March, I devoted my twice-monthly Helping Older Parents members calls to this topic.

Here is a video commentary I recorded on 3.27.20. Although the statistics about COVID numbers in the US quickly fell out of date, I am leaving this video available as the information on what to expect regarding hospitalization should be relevant for quite a while. This video covers:

What I’d 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 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…]

13 Recommended Resources for National Family Caregivers Month

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

This month — November — is National Family Caregivers Month.

If you’ve been in any way assisting another adult with managing health concerns or life tasks, you qualify as one of the estimated 40 million family caregivers in the US.

Such help often starts out with small things, such as helping an older relative get to appointments or assisting with grocery shopping.

But it’s also fairly common for families to end up providing quite a lot of care. A 2015 report found that on average, family caregivers provided 24.4 hours of assistance per week, and 23% of caregivers were clocking 41 hours or more.

Many people find themselves eventually struggling with the caregiving. Most of us haven’t prepared or been trained to do this, and many people are unsure of where to get information, help, or support.

So in this article, I’ll share some of my favorite resources to make family caregiving a little easier.

[Read more…]

3 Guides to Help With “The Talk” With Aging Parents, & More Useful Resources

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

It’s that time of the year again: first Thanksgiving, and then winter holidays. Which means this is the time of the year when families are most likely to get together with older parents.

Ideally, this means a time for families to bond and spend joyful times together. And no matter what is going on in your older relative’s life, bonding and joy are always possible. So I hope this holiday season brings you many opportunities to enjoy your aging relatives.

But there are two more challenging things that tend to happen during the holidays:

Families — especially adult children who don’t see their parents often — may find themselves concerned about an older relative’s health or safety or well-being.
Families often use the holidays as a time to get together and have “the talk.” Or otherwise try to plan and “get things in order.”

Nobody likes addressing these two situations. But they do come up a lot at this time of year.

In case any concerns or planning needs come up for you during the holidays, here’s what I’ll be sharing in this post:

3 useful guides, to help you address common aging and caregiving concerns
Tips on what to do if you’re worried about an older relative
6 common problems that worry families, with resources on addressing them

3 Guides to Help You Have “The Talk” With Aging Relatives

Here are three online guides that can help you. They all include a printable PDF version.

[Read more…]

How to Check an Older Adult for Common Health & Safety Problems

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

Worried about an older relative, but not quite sure what to do?

Common concerns I hear include:

Are my parents safe living on their own?
Could my mom be getting Alzheimer’s disease?
How can I find help for my father who lives alone?
I’m worried my mom might fall at home and get hurt.
I’m worried that my dad isn’t taking good care of himself.
Is it time to move to assisted living?

To help people turn their worries into a practical action plan, I’ve created a special new resource. You can download it here:

Helping Older Parents Quick Start Guide: Check Your Parents in 5 Key Areas

This guide is modeled on the mental checklists that I use when I first assess an older adult who lives at home.

Specifically, this is a quick version of how I initially check for the most common “don’t miss” health and safety red flags. It includes practical tips, such as who to ask for help, as well as a list of useful online resources.

If you’ve been concerned about an older adult who lives at home or in assisted-living, I hope you’ll take a look!

4 Practical Health & Aging Highlights from 2014

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

Happy New Year!

In this post, I want to share four notable 2014 developments related to better health for older adults. They all struck me as practical information that should be useful to those of you helping an aging person with health and wellbeing.

In no particular order, here are my four geriatrics health highlights from 2014:

1. Two Separate One-Time Pneumococcal Vaccines Now Recommended for Older Adults

For several years now, the CDC and other experts have recommended that all seniors aged 65 or older get a one-time pneumonococcal vaccine. The particular vaccine recommended for older adults was the “23 valent” type (which means it protects against 23 subtypes of pneumococcal bacteria), branded as Pneumovax. Another vaccine, a “13 valent” branded as Prevnar, was recommended for children and some adults with weakened immune systems.

In September 2014, the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) published its recommendation that all adults aged 65+ get both types of pneumococcal vaccination (Prevnar and Pneumovax). This recommendation was based on their review of scientific studies.

For the ACIP’s technical statement explaining this recommendation, see “Use of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and 23-Valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).” This document was obviously not written for the lay public, but it provides a lot of important detail for those who want to dig into the nitty-gritty. (You can find a basic CDC page on this topic here.)

I’ll admit that I’ve read the ACIP’s statement and I don’t yet feel I clearly understand just how much extra protection an older person should expect, if she has already been vaccinated with Pneumovax and now should get Prevnar. (I do tend to err on the side of following guidelines unless I have good reason to believe that the likely harms outweigh the proposed likely benefit.)

Key things you should know: Yes, there are now two one-time “pneumonia” vaccines that are recommended for older adults. You should also know that these are not supposed to be given at the same time. For more information on how to space out these vaccines, talk to your doctor or take a look at the ACIP document mentioned above.

2. Benzodiazepines Linked (Again) to Higher Alzheimer’s Risk

Benzodiazepines are sedatives/tranquilizers that are often prescribed to treat anxiety or insomnia. Commonly used benzos include lorazepam, alprazolam, and diazepam (Ativan, Xanax, and Valium respectively).

[Read more…]

3 Links to Help You With Aging & Caregiving

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

This month, I spotted a few useful online articles and resources that should come in handy for many of you. And if you’re joining your family for the holidays, these might spark some helpful conversations.

1. Caregiver Self -Assessment Questionnaire, from HealthInAging.org

What it is: A 1-page questionnaire about how you’ve been feeling, as you help a parent or other caree. It comes with a short list of resource websites for family caregivers.

Why I like it: It’s mostly yes/no questions, so it’s fast. This is a good way to check on yourself (or another family member who’s been doing a lot of helping). If you’re struggling, it’s important to get help sooner rather than later. To get help, try bringing a copy of this completed questionnaire to your doctor, or even to your older loved one’s doctor. You can also visit HealthinAging.org’s caregiver health webpage.

2. Video: 3 Easy Balance Exercises to Prevent Falls, from DailyCaring.com

What it is: 3 videos demonstrating easy balance exercises for seniors: the single-leg stand, the “arm-and-leg” raise, and the heel-to-toe walk.

Why I like this:

[Read more…]

Tools to Help with End-of-Life Planning

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

Yesterday I did a webinar with Family Caregiver Alliance, on end-of-life issues for dementia caregivers.

(4/10/14: I have just uploaded this powerpoint to Slideshare, so you can see my slides here.)

As you can imagine, this is a big topic that can’t be covered comprehensively in an hour.

So, I focused the talk mainly on something that I often find myself wishing families had spent more time on: advance care planning. Specifically, I talked about how individuals and families can approach planning for future medical care, in the context of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

Why? Because in my own experience, the last stage of life for a person with dementia is often strongly influenced by what kind of planning did — or didn’t — happen earlier on.

[Read more…]

Related resources:

3 Guides to Help You Have “The Talk” With Aging Relatives

1. Two Separate One-Time Pneumococcal Vaccines Now Recommended for Older Adults

2. Benzodiazepines Linked (Again) to Higher Alzheimer’s Risk

Disclaimer