Honoring the death of a senior
Sep 5, 2012 / 5:00 am
The death of a senior is traumatic. Families need to be able to grieve and bring closure to the death of the seniors. We are a society that brushes dying and death aside as it is too painful for us to watch and feel emotionally. Memories of the seniors need to be honored and remembered by...
Over medicated
Aug 29, 2012 / 5:00 am
(Photo: Flickr user, counselman) Recently daughters from three different families told me about how over-medicated their elderly parents were. Many people have heard of situations like this especially with seniors who are requiring more attention. One daughter was told that...
Why Move to Supportive Housing
Aug 8, 2012 / 5:00 am
I still have many families contact me asking how they can get their parents to realize the benefits of moving to supportive housing. They still have the perception that it is a place for ‘old’ people or that this is where you go to die. These perceptions are so far from the...
Perceptions of seniors
Aug 1, 2012 / 5:00 am
So often, with elderly seniors we have set perceptions that we are not aware of. If we see a senior walking with a cane, we often think that the senior is weak and frail. However, have the same senior using a pair of walking poles and we think that the senior is energetic and cognitively with...
Cell phone lifeline: 'ICE'
Jul 25, 2012 / 5:00 am
More than 75% of people carry no details of who they would like contacted in an emergency situation. We all carry our cell phones with names and numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends. It takes an...
Health Authorities differ in the services
Jul 18, 2012 / 5:00 am
The British Columbia Ministry of Health sets the province-wide goals, standards and performance agreements for health service delivery by the Health Authority. This is the administrative body responsible for the planning, delivery and evaluation of health care services for British...
Ambulance transportation
Jul 11, 2012 / 5:00 am
Photo: Contributed Ambulance service in British Columbia has roots dating back to the early 1900s. Emergency Medical Services were provided by a wide range of commercial and municipal operators, some functioning from funeral homes, others partially subsidized by...
Possible loss of independence
Jun 27, 2012 / 5:00 am
A series of brochures have been prepared jointly by the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers responsible for Seniors Forum. The Forum is an intergovernmental body established to share information, discuss new and emerging issues related to seniors, and work collaboratively on key...
Residential care facility investigation
Jun 20, 2012 / 5:00 am
Residential care facilities provide services for seniors with complex health-care needs requiring 24-hour professional care. They are required to have a Community Care Facilities License To ensure that the care required for the seniors is maintained at the highest level possible routine...
Don't call me a 'senior'!
Jun 13, 2012 / 5:00 am
The definition of a ‘senior citizen’ and the age when someone is considered to become a senior is very debatable, especially now that people live longer. Currently, in Canada, a senior is accepted as being 65 years-old. For the work that I do, every time I use the term...
Protecting seniors' interests
Jun 6, 2012 / 5:00 am
Each year people contact me at Seniors Consulting in Vancouver to find out what they can do to help seniors who cannot manage on their own. When seniors need help to manage due to an illness, accident, disability or diseases associated with aging, their judgment may be impaired. The seniors...
Seniors and summer
May 30, 2012 / 5:00 am
The nice weather has arrived, which is great. Finally seniors can get outside for walks or to work in a garden. During the summer months, families have more time to be with their parents or grandparents as children are out of school and people are taking holidays. It is important that...
Assisted living & family involvement
May 23, 2012 / 5:00 am
Many families have the perception that when their elderly parents move into assisted living facilities that all of their parents’ needs will be taken care of. Family involvement might actually increase as the seniors are no longer able to do many things for themselves that are not the...
Using electric scooters safely
May 9, 2012 / 5:00 am
Photo: Contributed Electric scooters are a great mobility aid for seniors. However, seniors must realize that they are ultimately responsible for their own safety when riding them. When seniors are riding electric scooters they are considered to be pedestrians and must...
Understanding BC Health Authorities
Feb 29, 2012 / 5:00 am
Following are sections from the report the Best of Care: Getting it Right for Seniors in British Columbia (Part2) by the Ombudsperson Kim Carter which was released in February 2012. Seniors are defined as people who are 65 years or older. BC Stats has estimated that approximately 677,770...
BC Seniors: Action Plan
Feb 22, 2012 / 5:00 am
On February 14th, The B.C. Minister of Health, Michael de Jong, announced that B.C. seniors, families and stakeholders are being invited to help shape the implementation of a comprehensive action plan to ensure a more accessible, transparent and accountable approach to seniors’...
Representative agreements
Feb 15, 2012 / 5:00 am
It is important for seniors to have their legal documents in place prior to the seniors requiring them. The documents need to be written while they have the mental capacity to understand and appreciate their financial and health situation, the trustworthiness of the proposed adult or company to...
Family dynamics and elderly parents
Feb 8, 2012 / 5:00 am
What do you do when you have elderly parents who you do not live close by and they are starting to have memory loss and confusion? In addition, you do not get along with your siblings who do live close to your parents. To stay in contact with your parents you call them on a regular basis....
Supervised housing needed
Jan 25, 2012 / 5:00 am
Recently, I was asked to comment on the housing situation for seniors. My reply was not about supportive housing or low-income housing but on the group of seniors whose need is not so apparent. These are the seniors who are living in their own homes, in supportive housing or with...
Descriptions of medical designations
Jan 18, 2012 / 5:00 am
On a daily basis, seniors have a family doctor who is a called a General Practitioner (GP). This is a medical doctor who diagnoses and treats most types of health conditions or diseases. However, when they are in the hospital, most likely they will be attended to by a Hospitalist....
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