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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Saskatoon woman is now oldest living Canadian

Pearl Lutzko, a resident of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is Canada's oldest citizen at age 112. Check out this CBC report on her and her family, which spans 5 generations. Her son - age 94 - still visits her every day!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Dealing with the ramifications of dementia

Two reports of deaths among older adults - seemingly due, in part, to the negligence of neighbors - have hit the Canadian media (see here and here).

Caregiving for someone with dementia is one of the most difficult tasks someone can take on. Caregivers need to be helped - and doing this is of increasing social concern with the daunting increase in people with dementia projected in the next 10 years.

However, Western society is one that favors privacy and autonomy, and it is not well defined when it is appropriate for someone - a neighbor, a family member - to step in and offer help. Rather than blaming the neighbors of these older adults who passed away, it is more constructive to consider solutions that work within our current social norms to facilitate the provision of necessary help.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Do older adults need a curated website?

Recently we came across a website that puts simple links to what might be considered essential sites for older adults all together in one place: seniordashboard.com.

This was originally designed by a couple specifically for their 80+ year old parents. It's an interesting idea - but does it fly for the general population of older adults? The site is a good resource for the basics of web navigation and privacy considerations, and it a good jumping off point for the internet novice. However, for any such site, there may be questions about how the site is curated. What do you think about this type of site for older adults?