Assisted Living Directory Blog

It’s always amazing to me how I learn about new things, and meet new people. I stumbled upon a great site through the course of some general surfing around last week – the National University of Singapore, and I noticed that they have an initiative spearheaded by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre called InnoAge – where among other things their projects include assistive technologies – (a generic term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities, including the elderly).

I had a question about the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, and e-mailed David Lim – the  Associate Director for the Centre.  David is truly a delightful fellow – we have had a really nice e-mail conversation – I had mentioned to him that when I was a kid, I had a pen-pal from Singapore, and actually learned quite a bit about the country.  David really encouraged me to visit Singapore (my wife and I keep talking about taking some trips in the next few years) and it sounds like Singapore is really evolving into a wonderful place to spend some time, and then “hop off to the rest of Asia” as David put it.  David says that some people call it “Little Red Dot”  because of Singapore’s flag.

I spent some time today looking at some of the incredible projects the Centre is working on – like a “Haptic Knob: A Robotic Device For Rehabilitation After Stroke” or a “Augmented reality-based virtual keyboard for Elderly & Disabled.”

Truly amazing stuff.  I really encourage anyone interested in assistive technologies, or anyone who works with the disabled or elderly to check out the Centre  – they’re really onto some great stuff.  I wish them the best of luck in all of their future endeavors!

Our family just got back from seeing Grandma Irene in the Pittsburgh area.   We had a great trip, and she got to spend time with her granson “Johnnie.”

Gramma Irene is amazing. She is turning 79 this month, and is as sharp as a tack.   She’s in great health too, so we can be thankful for that!   I think the reason that she is doing so well is that she stays very active.  As you can see, she has a garden that she tends to (we made a wonderful organic salad that evening from the greens picked in the picture below).   She also does yoga several times a week, and walks almost every day.

She also eats incredibly well, and keeps up on all of the latest health information regarding diet and nutrition.

I think Gramma Irene is the exception in this area, unfortunately.  From what we could see, there was a lot of unhealthy choices for eating in the Pittsburgh area.  It was really hard to find “healthy” food at any of the restaurants we visited.   There weren’t many people out exercising either.   These weren’t just my observations – we all took note.    Maybe we noticed since my family is from Colorado (voted this month in a major publication as being the “leanest” state.

Pittsburgh has a high percentage of seniors as compared to the national average.  Currently, over 15% of the population of Pittsburgh are seniors, as opposed to the 12% for the rest of the country.   For this reason, we made a dedicated page to Pittsburgh Assisted Living on our site today.

We hope to see Gramma Irene again this holiday season.  She usually comes out to see us at that time, and stays for the week!

Gramma Irene's House in Pittsburgh

Jacqueline Marcell wrote “Elder Rage” which is featured in several places on my site. We have ’spoken’ by email once or twice and she is really an engaging woman.

I just got an email saying that she was featured in AARP Online.

“I barely survived the most wrenching year of my life as the sole caregiver to my aggressive elderly father and sweet but ailing mother, both with early Alzheimer’s not properly suspected nor diagnosed for over a year. But after the heartbreak of having my once-adoring father taken away by force several times to a psychiatric hospital for violence (where he’d promptly be released), and burning through my parents’ life savings and most of mine–with sheer determination I finally solved the endless crisis medically and behaviorally. “

Her Book, Elder Rage is available at Amazon.

I stumbled upon a really entertaining and informative site today – the Delta Dick Show – and I have had a few exchanges with Delta Dick and he is a really nice guy. His site talks about just about anything and everything from politics (local and national), senior and elderly issues, and also integrates quite a nice dose of humor throughout his site. He is an American who seems to really care about which direction things are headed. You can also get a nice dose of Polka from his website! It was really a pleasure “meeting” him and I wish him the best success to him, his show, and his website.

I was also very touched by his tribute to his cat Barney.

I found a great site today that is an Information Blog developed by developed and created by internet expert, author, keynote speaker, and consultant Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. for monitoring elder resources and sites on the Internet. The site is elderresources.info.

Elder Resources is a “Subject Tracer Information Blog” which is designed to bring together the latest resources and sources on an ongoing basis from the internet for elder resources which are listed on his site.

Providing eldercare and long term care for family members is one of the
most costly, yet least understood, health care challenges in the United
States. Today there are an estimated 52 million informal and family
caregivers who provide care to someone aged 20+ who is ill or disabled.
Within this, 34 million adults (16% of population) provide care to
adults 50+ years at an estimated expense that totals $300 billion
annually.

If you or someone you know are dealing with or have dealt with decisions
about long-term care for loved ones you know the importance of having
the best information possible. You probably also know the struggle to
find that information. www.AGIS.com wants to help make that struggle
easier and give you a community that can help support and inform.

Visit www.agis.com to find a comprehensive collection of information and
community features all designed to give caregivers a fully functional
resource for caring for aging parents, friends or family members. The
site includes long term care resources, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
information, legal and financial preparation tips, checklists,
suggestions for new caregivers and much more.

Did you know that many major cities have massage schools, and that as a part of the training requirements for their students, the masseuse or masseur in training must visit assisted living facilities or nursing homes to ‘practice’ their craft for free (or for a minimal charge)?

For anyone who hasn’t had a professional massage, it not only works wonders for your physical body, but the mental and emotional benefits are also great.

I came across a great website today that offers massage training “specifically for our elders and the ill or dying person.” They are Compassionate Touch

I also found a little video blub about them: