Healthy Aging Blog

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias gradually diminish a person’s ability to communicate. Communication with a person with Alzheimer’s requires patience, understanding and good listening skills. The strategies below can help both you and the person with dementia understand each other better. Additionally, the Idaho Commission on Aging website has Dementia Skills training that focuses on preparing… Read more: Communication and Alzheimer’s

How to Include an Aging Family Member in Holiday Celebrations The holidays are meant to be a joyous time for families to gather and celebrate. However, these usually happy occasions can pose challenges for seniors and their family members. Older adults with mobility issues or conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can… Read more: Make the Holidays Merry For All…

Caring for a family member or a close friend is one of the most important roles you will ever play.  It may start by simply running errands, driving them to their doctor appointment or shopping.  Later, you may find yourself handling their medications, meals, finances, activities of daily living or other medical complexities. Therefore, it… Read more: Five Steps for Family Caregivers

When a loved one no longer is able to remain at home safely with supports it pays to have some basic knowledge when faced with the task of finding appropriate placement.  Long-Term Care is a system unto itself with a language that most do not know if they have not had experience with either Skilled… Read more: Resident’s Rights: What to Expect

What a Difference a Few Simple Things Can Make Every day, we look for ways to optimize our efforts. If we can find activities that accomplish multiple goals at once that is even better. This is especially true when it comes to things that benefit our health. For all of us, but especially those over… Read more: Preventing Falls

Follow these easy steps to make sure you’re protected. Natural disasters, such as wildfires, floods, and blizzards, may force you to evacuate your home or shelter-in-place at short notice. It is important to know what to do in case of an emergency well before disaster strikes. If you are an older adult living in the… Read more: Emergency Preparedness for Older Adults

We all Cherish Choice and Autonomy Every July Americans come together and revel in our freedoms. The freedom to make choices and pursue our own path is celebrated as a fundamental right. Unfortunately, as we age people lose sight of the fact that we retain our civil rights, and often take away choice and self-determination… Read more: Choice and Autonomy

JUNE IS ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS MONTH Throughout the month of June, the Idaho Commission on Aging, our statewide partners, and communities around the world will be working to raise awareness about adult abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the… Read more: Elder Abuse Awareness

Age My Way 2022 Older adults play vital, positive roles in our communities – as family members, friends, mentors, volunteers, civic leaders, members of the workforce, and more. Just as every person is unique, so too is how they age and how they choose to do it – and there is no “right” way. That’s… Read more: Older Americans Month

Millions of older adults are likely eligible for, but not enrolled in, benefits that can help them save money on health care, prescriptions, food, and more. Public benefit programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare Savings Programs, and Part D Low-Income Subsidy, help these individuals save thousands of dollars each year… Read more: Boost Your Budget

Let’s celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Senior Nutrition Program! According to Feeding America, one in six seniors are considered food insecure. This means about 57,000 seniors in Idaho may be dealing with the issue of food insecurity, which can create negative impact on their health. In addition to causing a few extra wrinkles and… Read more: Senior Nutrition Program

A 2018 study reports that 22% of all adults in the US – nearly 60 million — said they often or always felt lonely or socially isolated (Kaiser Family Foundation) and 45% of seniors (65 and older) feel lonely on a regular basis (HRSA). Along with the emotional response to feeling lonely comes many health risks… Read more: Letters Lift Loneliness

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s and other dementias can be a rewarding experience, it can also be demanding and challenging.  Caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are two and half times more likely than caregivers with other conditions to need help with emotional or mental challenges and nearly four time as likely to… Read more: Help is Close When You Need It

My favorite definition of loneliness comes from Britannica:   A distressing experience that occurs when a person’s social relationships are perceived by that person to be less in quantity, and especially in quality, than desired. It is common when people think of loneliness to think of the emotional response to a situation.  We’ve all felt lonely… Read more: You Can Provide Comfort and Joy This Holiday Season

Being a family caregiver isn’t uncommon, in fact, more than 53 million people provide a broad range of assistance to support the health, quality of life, and independence of someone close to them, but it is crucial. In fact, millions of older adults and people with disabilities would not be able to live in the… Read more: Idaho Celebrates Family Caregivers

The decision to move into a long-term care or assisted living facility is one that requires thought and preparation. Taking steps to choose the facility most likely to meet your loved one’s needs, is necessary work for a positive long-term care experience.  Necessary work includes acts of advocacy done in preparation for long term care… Read more: Family Advocacy in Long-Term Care

We have all seen the video where a person trips or stumbles over something and falls. When mixed with a few good sound effects, they are often humorous. It’s OK to be able to laugh at life sometimes but falls are more often than not a life-changing event, especially for older adults. Falls are an… Read more: Falls Aren’t Always Funny

How to Prepare for Power Outages You know the feeling, and it’s a bad one. Suddenly everything in the house goes silent and dark. Power’s out. You run outside to see if it’s just you and check your breaker box. Meanwhile you are wondering: How long is it going to be out? (Did I charge… Read more: The Dog Days of Summer Can Bite You!

In July we celebrate liberty and justice for all. Sadly, as we age well intentioned fellow Americans often chose to curtail older or disabled Americans’ inalienable rights. Overprotection may appear on the surface to be kind, but it can be really evil. An oversupply can smother people emotionally, squeeze the life out of their hopes… Read more: Independence for Older and Disabled Adults

In tough times, communities find strength in people—and people find strength in their communities. In the past year, we’ve seen this time and again in Idaho as friends, neighbors, and businesses have found new ways to support each other. In our community, older adults are a key source of this strength. Through their experiences, successes,… Read more: Older Americans Month: Communities of Strength

Decrease Financial Stress, Promote Health! April 12th – 16th will be the second annual “Boost Your Budget Week: Find Your Benefits to Age Well” campaign, promoted by the National Council on Aging (NCOA). Every year, millions of Americans and thousands of Idahoans are eligible for, but not enrolled in, benefits that can save them money… Read more: Boost Your Budget

Funded by the Older Americans Act, the National Senior Nutrition Program began in 1972 and has been meeting the nutritional, social, and wellness needs of Older Americans for nearly 50 years. Each March, the Idaho Commission on Aging recognizes its anniversary by celebrating the program’s rich history and tremendous value across the nation with the Area Agencies on Aging… Read more: Let’s Celebrate the National Senior Nutrition Program

As we slowly recover from a much different holiday season, each of us may be adjusting in our own unique way. A sense of loss due to a change in holiday tradition, relief due to it all being over, or loneliness due to no longer being surrounded by family. A 2018 survey of 20,000 adults… Read more: Use Technology to Prevent Loneliness

As the number of adults living in the United States grows, the number of individuals living with dementia grows along with it.  People who live with dementia and their caregivers often require and benefit from a broad array of services and supports that help them continue living in the community.  As a result, the Idaho… Read more: Dementia Capability

No one can predict the future.  That is why saving for retirement is so complicated.  As members of PERSI, State of Idaho employees are in an enviable position in our retirement planning strategy.  However, there are several options above and beyond our PERSI 401(k) that can help us save for our retirement years.  Let’s look… Read more: Saving for Retirement

Family caregivers manage emergencies, juggle priorities, and suffer isolation – and that was before unprecedented challenges of the COVID19 pandemic. It is estimated that 1 in 4 Idahoans is a caregiver, providing 171 million hours of unpaid labor to the state annually (AARP, 2017).  This month we will share resources and creative ideas developed by… Read more: Family Caregivers: A Resource Worth Guarding

If you or a loved one resides in a nursing home or assisted living facility, then residents’ rights matter! Idahoans maybe unaware that their rights continue even though they are residing in a long-term care facility.  Rights do not end once you step through the door of a nursing home or assisted living, rather knowing… Read more: Residents’ Rights

All of us have stumbled or fallen. In fact, we start as toddlers where the wobble and tumble to the carpet is part of normal development. As we grow older though, falls become an important health concern. Falls are costly—both in dollars and quality of life.  In Idaho, 1 in 5 falls result in significant… Read more: Get Fall-Free This Fall

You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your well-being to take care of someone you love. The Idaho Commission for Aging is here to help anyone struggling to care for a loved one with dementia with a free online Dementia Skills Training. Learn practical knowledge and strategies to help people living with dementia enjoy moments of human… Read more: Dementia Skills Training