Terminal restlessness is a common syndrome that may occur near the end of life. People experiencing terminal restlessness show signs of physical, emotional, and/or spiritual restlessness, as well as increased anxiety, agitation, and cognitive decline. This occurs days ...

Becoming a nurse, and more importantly, a caregiver, isn’t something I just fell into. I wanted to take care of people. There is a special kind of heart one must have to be a caregiver. I’ve spent 32 years as a nurse. During this time, I have taken care of a numerous ...

Imagine you're in the hospital. The doctor mentions the hospital's animal assisted therapy program and asks if you're interested. You say yes, and your doctor arranges for someone to tell you more about the program. Soon after that, a therapy dog and it's handler ...

One of the most common sleep disturbances in the population of older adults is insomnia. According to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, as many as 50% of older adults complain about difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep. Prevalence of insomnia is higher in ...

Studies have shown that at least 2/3 of adults age 70+ have hearing loss in America, yet only about 16% of these individuals utilize hearing aids. At the same time, according to Alzheimers.net, by the year 2025, 7.1 million people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s ...

Let's face it, there's a "month" for everything but the kitchen sink, and there may be one for that as well. July has been deemed "Social Wellness Month," but it unfortunately doesn't get much attention. Perhaps it should for those who are most vulnerable to the ...

Okay, so we need to have a conversation about the brain, and bring to light the fact that the different forms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are a major public health issue.

There has been a stigma placed on mental health issues. Some may feel embarrassed that they have a diagnosis of a mental illness, such as depression, and feel they should just work harder to not feel "down about things." Depression is not a "normal" part of aging, but ...

Are you an older adult interested in getting a dog? Perhaps you're retired and decided that you finally have the extra time to care for a dog. Maybe you crave the kind of companionship that a dog can offer. The care that is required to have a pet can provide one with ...