Can you hear the violins playing in the background? I’m going to ask one of those sappy questions, so be prepared. Are you ready? What is a friend? (Yes, I hear those groans…) A friend is someone you want to spend time with. Someone you can laugh with, and cry with. Someone you can trust […]

I received so many gifts today. Outside our lounge at work is a lovely patio, but like any garden, it needs work. Two tables full of inside plants needed to go outside, weeds and other winter debris had to be moved from the planters and the soil made ready for the colourful annuals I can’t

Have you ever been searching for a word and it eludes you?You know it. It hovers at the fringes of your consciousness, but you can’t bring it forward. You substitute a lesser word, and feel frustrated because it doesn’t say what you want. That night, at 2:00 a.m., you wake to go to the bathroom,

“I’d never put my mother in a home.” I’ve heard these words many times, usually said in a sanctimonious, slightly patronising tone. The implication is, “I’m better than that. I value my mother (father, other family member) more than those who make this choice.” In many cultures, home is the only choice. Elders are revered,

Today you are seven, and as Grandmas do, my mind drifts back to the beginning, ahead to the future and places in between. The day we first heard that you were on the way, your Grandpa and I were feeling so many things. I remember him looking at me with a startled look, and saying,

The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practise at age 90. “Because I think I’m making progress,” he replied. 1 Here’s a radical, outside-the-box thought. Growth is possible until the end of life. It is possible, in fact, desirable, for people to grow as people until they die. They can have

If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, it’s all the buzz. The Toronto Star for the last two weeks has featured articles exposing the use of antipsychotic drugs in Ontario nursing homes. “Ontario nursing homes are drugging helpless seniors at an alarming rate with powerful antipsychotic drugs, despite warnings that the medications can kill

My mind has been circling a quote for a few weeks. “Often the best therapy is to provide opportunities for happiness and increased meaning in the lives of residents.” 1 These words are the result of an experimental intergenerational program between school children and elders in Australia. It is quoted by Bill Thomas, founder of

Culture change. Huh? Culture change in eldercare. I first heard the term a few years ago, and it wasn’t until having the words come up in several conversations, lectures and workshops that I realised I didn’t have a good understanding of what it meant. I understood change (although definitely not all the implications) but culture?

It’s not it’s own language, but there’s a definite skill in being able to communicate with someone with Alzheimer’s. It’s not about the words so much as the spirit behind them. Here are my top ten tips for speaking Alzheimer’s 1. Don’t try to reason with me. You will only frustrate both of us. (NOT: