Saturday, February 27, 2010

Brain Games To Avoid With Alzheimer's | LIVESTRONG.COM

Brain Games To Avoid With Alzheimer's. Early symptoms of Alzheimers disease include short-term memory loss and difficulty in finding the right words when speaking. Individuals with Alzheimers tend to retain memory of...

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Common Causes Of Glaucoma | LIVESTRONG.COM

Common Causes Of Glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease that causes loss of peripheral vision due to damage to the retina and optic nerve. Severe glaucoma results in what is called tunnel vision because the remai...

Describing Symptoms Of Glaucoma | LIVESTRONG.COM

Describing Symptoms Of Glaucoma. Glaucoma causes loss of peripheral vision due to damage to the retina and optic nerve. Risk factors include being over 60 years of age, having a family history of glaucoma and bein...

What Are The Treatments For Dry Macular Degeneration? | LIVESTRONG.COM

What Are The Treatments For Dry Macular Degeneration?. Macular degeneration is a disease that primarily affects older people and causes loss of central vision. The macula is in the center of the retina, which is the light-sensitive par...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

How to Enjoy Visiting a Loved One who has Alzheimer’s Disease

How to Enjoy Visiting a Loved One who has Alzheimer’s Disease

A Different Light

A Different Light
An interesting perspective on lighting. As a low vision occupational therapist-I always think about lighting to increase function but not in terms of promoting a normal sleep cycle. I like the suggestions on ways to make the home or institution conducive to waking up peppy, winding down at night and getting a good night's sleep.

BarbaraSmithOccupationalTherapist.com

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Devices To See With When You Have Macular Degeneration | LIVESTRONG.COM

Devices To See With When You Have Macular Degeneration. As macular degeneration progresses, central vision worsens, causing blurriness and sometimes a blind spot called a scotoma. The patient may already own bifocals prescribed to imp...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Symptoms of Late Stage Dementia
OK, this article is a bit depressing, but I think its good for family members and friends of people with alzheimers to know what to expect.
BarbaraSmithOccupationalTherapist.com

Friday, February 5, 2010

Dementia Safety in Your Loved One's Home

Check out my first article for the site: AllSeniorHomes.com
This article is called: Dementia Safety in Your Loved One's Home. I have to say that I really find their site comprehensive and well-organized; but then I am biased since I hope to write more articles for them.

OT Practice is now online

I have discovered that the American Occupational Therapy Association's magazine OT Practice is now on-line at OT Practice.
Don't let the current issue with a cover photo of a baby scare you. There are usually articles relevant to geriatrics and eldercare.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Yoga and Seniors

I think I may have mentioned this yoga book written by occupational therapist Peggy Gardner, especially for seniors. Here is her new website: Yoga and Seniors

Health Care Reform Proposal

I gave a speech last week at my toastmaster's meeting about the Health Care Reform proposal to pay doctors every five years for one hour of consultation around end of life issues such as "advanced directives", services provided by Hospice and what a health care proxy is. This service is completely voluntary and all decisions are made by the patient. I had a very positive experience with hospice when my mother was dying. This proposal has been misconstrued by special interests as something they call "death panels".
I guess this is a hot button issue and some people are convinced that health care reform automatically implies long waits, limited care and people dying. One woman in my club thought the so called "death panels" were related to Nazi death camps. Another member said that we would have to wait 6 months to get an MRI. Does that imply that the MRI machines will suddenly lie idle growing moss? A friend of mine pointed out that if all the people who currently do not get health care were suddenly getting it- then we would all be in competition to use those MRI machines and see specialists. OK- that's an explanation I never considered. Food for thought about how Americans might feel about each other.