Senior Living
/Health

Fla. pantry begins special hours for seniors. 'It's the greatest thing'
TAMPA, Fla. -- Cynthia Jones has her grocery shopping down to a science.
She divvies up her list between the shops of Palm River Road in Tampa, forgoing spices and frozen fruits at Save A Lot in favor of Dollar Tree’s much cheaper prices. From there, she marches on to Fresco y Más.
Store by store, she gathers what she needs to ensure she ...Read more

Fla. pantry begins special hours for seniors. ‘It’s the greatest thing’
TAMPA, Fla. -- Cynthia Jones has her grocery shopping down to a science.
She divvies up her list between the shops of Palm River Road in Tampa, forgoing spices and frozen fruits at Save A Lot in favor of Dollar Tree’s much cheaper prices. From there, she marches on to Fresco y Más.
Store by store, she gathers what she needs to ensure she ...Read more

Johns Hopkins launches major effort to make aging a whole lot less achy
BALTIMORE -- Just about everyone knows someone — or is that someone — who has aches or pains, some forgetfulness or other age-related issue or disease.
Let’s face it, the human body deteriorates as it ages: Bones grow brittle, muscles don’t recover as fast, brains even begin to shrink.
The Johns Hopkins University has assembled a group...Read more

Fla. pantry begins special hours for seniors. 'It's the greatest thing'
TAMPA, Fla. -- Cynthia Jones has her grocery shopping down to a science.
She divvies up her list between the shops of Palm River Road in Tampa, forgoing spices and frozen fruits at Save A Lot in favor of Dollar Tree’s much cheaper prices. From there, she marches on to Fresco y Más.
Store by store, she gathers what she needs to ensure she ...Read more

Johns Hopkins launches major effort to make aging a whole lot less achy
BALTIMORE -- Just about everyone knows someone — or is that someone — who has aches or pains, some forgetfulness or other age-related issue or disease.
Let’s face it, the human body deteriorates as it ages: Bones grow brittle, muscles don’t recover as fast, brains even begin to shrink.
The Johns Hopkins University has assembled a group...Read more

This pup is on duty for love and support
Francisco attends most staff meetings at Woodbridge Terrace of Irvine, California, and regularly interacts with the residents, but never says a word.
Don’t let that fool you.
Mimi Poliner, a 94-year-old resident of the 115-person assisted living and memory-care home, said he always has an opinion. He just doesn’t state it.
“He sets an ...Read more

This pup is on duty for love and support
Francisco attends most staff meetings at Woodbridge Terrace of Irvine, California, and regularly interacts with the residents, but never says a word.
Don’t let that fool you.
Mimi Poliner, a 94-year-old resident of the 115-person assisted living and memory-care home, said he always has an opinion. He just doesn’t state it.
“He sets an ...Read more

Advance care planning for guns: Owners can help ensure safe use and transfer of weapons
Kerri Raissian didn’t know what to do about her father’s guns when he died of COVID-19 in December at age 86 and left her executor of his estate.
Her father, Max McGaughey, hadn’t left a complete list of his firearms and where they were stored, and he hadn’t prepared a realistic plan for responsibly transferring them to family members. ...Read more

Advance care planning for guns: Owners can help ensure safe use and transfer of weapons
Kerri Raissian didn’t know what to do about her father’s guns when he died of COVID-19 in December at age 86 and left her executor of his estate.
Her father, Max McGaughey, hadn’t left a complete list of his firearms and where they were stored, and he hadn’t prepared a realistic plan for responsibly transferring them to family members. ...Read more

Rising rents squeezed these Tampa Bay seniors. They feared fighting back.
SOUTH PASADENA, Fla. — The notice pinned to each apartment door was clear: Rent would go up, for all tenants, in 60 days.
Nelda Whiteman, a 67-year-old former nurse on a fixed income, stared at the paper dumbstruck.
Come April 1, they would have to pay an additional $125 per month.
Whiteman had lived at Lutheran Residences of South Pasadena...Read more
Losing her eyesight, Minnesota woman helps others who are also losing theirs
Zenobia Silas-Carson of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, shares her struggle to adjust to midlife vision loss.
MINNEAPOLIS — Zenobia Silas-Carson didn't want her former boss to know she was losing her eyesight.
"My manager never caught me squinting with my nose against the monitor trying to see," she said.
The Brooklyn Park woman has been told her...Read more
For this ‘living treasure of East Liberty,’ it’s been a lifetime of change and fixing teeth
PITTSBURGH — On this day, one patient said no to the city’s slippery, snow-covered streets and asked to postpone his appointment, so now John Boccella, DDS, had time on his hands. He’s 89 years old and has been fixing teeth in East Liberty for six decades, which means he’s something of an expert on dentistry — as well as the passage of...Read more

Is memory loss mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's or just aging? When to get tested
For people of a certain age, it takes only a few "senior moments" — struggling for words, names or memories — to cause worry.
Is this normal aging or mild cognitive impairment (MCI)? Is it all a run-up to Alzheimer's?
As a neuropsychologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center-Wichita, Ryan Schroeder conducts the lengthy cognitive ...Read more

Travel Trending with Kathy Witt: West Baden Springs Resort: Southern Indiana’s calming oasis
It is fitting that West Baden Springs Hotel, a magnificent domed resort built in 1902 in the manner of the grand spas of Europe, sits along an Indiana Historic Pathways route. The roads tell the story of Indiana and the country, beginning with the hooves of the bison and moving through time to the wheels of the stagecoach, the tracks laid by the...Read more

It’s your choice: You can change your views of aging and improve your life
People’s beliefs about aging have a profound impact on their health, influencing everything from their memory and sensory perceptions to how well they walk, how fully they recover from disabling illness, and how long they live.
When aging is seen as a negative experience (characterized by terms such as decrepit, incompetent, dependent, and ...Read more

It's your choice: You can change your views of aging and improve your life
People’s beliefs about aging have a profound impact on their health, influencing everything from their memory and sensory perceptions to how well they walk, how fully they recover from disabling illness, and how long they live.
When aging is seen as a negative experience (characterized by terms such as decrepit, incompetent, dependent, and ...Read more

Why Black and Hispanic seniors are left with a less powerful flu vaccine
At Whitman-Walker Health, Dr. David Fessler and his staff administer high-dose influenza vaccine to all HIV-positive and senior patients. Although the vaccine is roughly three times as expensive as standard flu vaccine, it seems to do a better job at protecting those with weakened immune systems — a major focus of the nonprofit’s Washington,...Read more

Why Black and Hispanic seniors are left with a less powerful flu vaccine
At Whitman-Walker Health, Dr. David Fessler and his staff administer high-dose influenza vaccine to all HIV-positive and senior patients. Although the vaccine is roughly three times as expensive as standard flu vaccine, it seems to do a better job at protecting those with weakened immune systems — a major focus of the nonprofit’s Washington,...Read more

Grilling: For a memorable Memorial Day
The way we observe it, Memorial Day is actually two holidays.
The first of these is a day of somber reflection and of profound thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who gave their lives so our country could be free.
And the second of these is a day of fun, of relaxation — and of grilling.
Memorial Day stands as the unofficial ...Read more

The whole enchilada: Recipes as good as you'll get at your favorite Mexican restaurant
Some people, when they go to Italian restaurants, always order spaghetti carbonara. Some, when they go to Chinese restaurants, inevitably get chicken with black bean sauce.
When I go to a Mexican restaurant, you can be sure I’ll order enchiladas. Always enchiladas.
Enchiladas, to me, encapsulate the best qualities of Mexican cooking. They ...Read more