Uncategorized

By Michael E. Festa Whether heading to the Cape, the Berkshires or beyond, nothing says summer in New England more than an old-fashioned road trip....

By Dr. Jean Keamy Dry Eye is one of the most common diseases in ophthalmology. Dry eyes can cause a variety of symptoms from foreign...

Boomers are more obese than other generations, a new poll finds, setting them up for unhealthy senior years.

Massachusetts ranks 11th in the nation when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents and people with disabilities, and even more must be done, at an accelerated pace, to meet changing demographic demands. Specific areas of concern in Massachusetts include affordability, the quality of life and quality of care, and effective transition dimensions.

Doctors call it “the waiting room.” That is what I’m doing. I have a sore throat. I arrived on time for my appointment. I checked in. I paid my co-pay. And now I am waiting. I have been told, “It will be a few minutes.” Uh, oh. “It will be a few minutes” is doctor-office code for “I hope you brought a snack and you’re starting to read a Victorian novel, because we are Backed Up.”

To paraphrase an old saying: There’s no tool like an old tool. We love our old stuff, even when we can afford new stuff and new stuff might work better. As I type, my favorite writing instrument rests nearby. This thin black plastic mechanical pencil, my companion for 35 years, fits my hand like an old shoe -- impossible biologically speaking, of course, but quite correct metaphorically. Its worn, scratched surface assures slip-free writing. Its original clip and eraser have been replaced with body parts from less favored implements.

In his New York Times bestselling book, “Being Mortal,” surgeon Atul Gawande explains the rise of nursing homes in America starting in the 1950s. “Hospitals couldn’t solve the debilities of chronic illness and advancing age,” he wrote, “and they began to fill up with people who had nowhere to go.” The hospitals lobbied Congress for funding “to enable them to build separate custodial units for patients needing an extended period of “recovery.”

One raw, late-winter day many years ago, arborists took down a grand, ancient pine in our yard. I don’t remember all of our reasons for this but, once it was cut, signs of internal rot made it clear that the tree would have come down anyway, probably tumbling huge limbs onto somebody’s house. The decision to cut it down had been a good one.

When we are in our twenties, our upper and lower eyelids look perfect. No one ever noticed droopy upper lids or puffy bags under our lids in our youth.

By Mike Festa, State director, AARP Massachusetts There is a lot happening on the “Age Friendly” movement in the Bay State, from legislative briefings to...