Articles for WRAL

What is the real cost of Assisted Living?

Few people anticipate the significant increases in care costs over time. When I recently compared the cost of a private studio in six Assisted Living communities with relatively similar base rates, I found a difference in cost between the lowest and highest of $56,760/year for those requiring the highest care level. To read the entire piece...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

Showing Up

There are so many reasons now that it is more infrequent than not that we don't get to say good bye in this way--we live far apart; parents fear the kids might be scared; we have so little time, we get lost and overwhelmed with all the chores a death requires--but there is a reason...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

The Use of Poetry

I was called in not long ago to help find a landing place for someone after the family did an “intervention” for opioid addiction. I spent a day and night making calls to every wise person with the right expertise in my digital rolodex, trying to find just the right place with an open bed,...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

Technology That Makes Working With Agency Home Help Easy

A client of mine was recently put on hospice. Because they were a fall risk and had considerable special needs, the hospice nurse recommended 24/7 care. It is hard to trust the care of a loved parent to strangers at any point, but especially when on hospice. In this case, until that point the client’s adult...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

No Control

It’s Sunday morning and still raining in Raleigh. Several inches of water pool on the surface of our back yard, nothing compared to the towns east of us. Our soggy Sunday paper is full of images of rescues of the elderly in New Bern and Swansboro, Wilmington, James City and Riverbend. And the waters are...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

The Hurricane’s A-Coming

In running around town yesterday, checking on old clients and looking for urgent placements for new ones, here are some notes from the field on how those working in the elder industry are preparing for Hurricane Florence. Yesterday, Windsor Point, a CCRC in Fuqua Varina, took in nine residents temporarily from a community in...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

You Call This Yoga

Many people have an inaccurate impression of what yoga is. Howie Shareff, founder of You Call This Yoga, wants to correct that by bringing free yoga classes to many who might never have access to it. Shareff knows on a personal level the physical and mental benefits yoga can provide for anyone. To read the whole...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

Pursuing Guardianship

One in six women and one in ten men living past the age of 55 will develop some form of dementia and potentially need to designate a guardian who will act in their best interests when they no longer can themselves. Lawyer Leslee Sharp, who is also one of four public guardians appointed by the...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/



Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

Hospice in Assisted Living?

Many don't know that there is the option to bring hospice care into assisted living as their loved one nears the end. In the families I've worked with who have done this is, I've seen more peace with the process, which is a true gift for all involved. To read the whole article, visit: https://www.wral.com/hospice-in-assisted-living-/17726243/...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

Play

I had been out most of the afternoon visiting family care homes and was writing up my findings for a client when I noticed the time. 6:30. The report was due in the morning. My neighborhood women’s group was due to start in fifteen minutes at Marie’s. It had been a long day. I was struggling...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/

Working with Aging Adults with Significant Vision and Hearing Loss

“Hello, John, it’s Liisa here,” I say gently, but loudly, my mouth closest to John’s left ear. His eyes are open. I place my hand gently on his shoulder and say, “Is there anything I can help you with?” John, like several of my oldest clients, is almost entirely blind, as well as hearing impaired. I...
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Article and images are provided by WRAL. To view this and other articles written for WRAL, visit: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/agingwell/