Healing Dementia: Book Review

Published in 2017.

Approaches to dementia range from medical models to health care models. Every once and a while, I find people who respond primarily through the emotions.  This is the case for dementia advocate Kyrié Carpenter.

Live Longer, Live Better, Avoid the Risks: Book Review

Published July 12, 2017.

Healthy lifestyle choices serve as the foundation of sound health.

As people age, their habits have an enormous impact on their quality of life.

Authors William M. Manger, Ph.D. and Edward J. Roccella, MPH use their expertise in health care research to explain how to increase longevity and health by adopting healthy habits.

As a gerontologist, I have studied and taught classes on healthy aging. This book condenses a lot of literally vital information into one book.

The authors reference evidence-based scholarship in support of their advice for adopting healthy habits; however, the writing style isn't academic or stuffy.  It's clear and direct prose written for the lay reader.

The acknowledgement section lists about two dozen health and medical experts who were consulted to "improve the quality of this book" (p. 289).

The book's core chapters are as follows:

2017 Top 10 Posts

Adapted photo by June Marie.

Over the last year, this blog carried a modest number of posts, around two dozen.  Nevertheless, many received significant views.

Here are the Top 10 posts written / published on this blog in 2017 (in ascending order):

#10. Evansville Hosts Aging Avengers.

The Tristate (IL-IN-KY) enjoyed a visit by the Changing Aging Team led by Dr. Bill Thomas for a day of presentations on how to challenge stereotypes of aging and how to recognize the influential roles that older adults have in our communities.

#9. Lifespan Differs from Health Span

People in industrialized nations are living much longer than their grandparents. However, the last years of their life will more probably include living with chronic diseases and disability.

#8. Older Americans 2016 Federal Report on Aging

Every two or three years, several US government office work together to compile a report of key indicators of well being for older adults.  This post lists the 41 indicators and includes links to the full report and to a few executive summaries of the report.

Celebrating Grandmothers: Book Review

Published September 3, 2014. 

Have you ever wanted to go on a three-day retreat with a couple of dozen women who are introspective about the life stage of "grandmother"?

Ann Richardson gives you this experience without the cost and inconvenience of travel in her book Celebrating Grandmothers: Grandmothers Talk about Their Lives (2014).

Richardson transcribes interviews conducted with 27 women from the greater London area.

They come from a diverse background and have various viewpoints about grandmothering. And their experiences differ.

Some have the opportunity to do a lot of very hands-on grandparenting. Others have to innovate on how to do long-distant grandparenting.

The women interviewed have an array of relationships with their child, their child's spouse, and are part of a diversity of extended family structures.

The book is organized into the following sections: