Non-academic Articles

Caregivers of people with dementia have to make countless decisions throughout their caregiving career. One of the decisions that isn't frequently discussed is how to assist a care recipient with the process of voting. The Alzheimer's Association has posted an article with points for caregivers to consider and tips for facilitating the vote of someone with dementia.

My first official publication came out this week in a local newspaper for seniors, Life After 50. The article addressed several misconceptions about psychotherapy, what to expect during therapy, and some reasons for why older adults seek therapy. The benefits of therapy can include increased quality of life and sense of emotional well-being for individuals at any age.

The New York Times had an interesting article today about the detrimental impact that "elderspeak" has on older adults.

One form of elderspeak includes belittling an older adult by calling him or her "sweetie" or "dear." When I hear someone use these terms with an older adult, it conveys the message that the person using the terms views the senior as cute and/or docile and, basically, on the same intellectual level as a child.

Another form of elderspeak includes ignoring the older adult altogether and asking his or her companion questions they are perfectly able to answer (e.g., what they'd like to eat for lunch). I experienced this as a master's student in my fieldwork placement. An older woman fell on her way into the senior center and I was asked to accompany her to the urgent care clinic. When we arrived, the nurse began asking me questions about the woman's condition, even though the older woman was completely lucid (and I had known her for about 20 minutes!). 

Click here to read about similar experiences of others and how they've dealt with them.

In the U.S., older adults have a disproportionally high rate of completed suicide as compared to the general population, with white men over the age of 85 being at greatest risk (National Center for Health Statistics, 2007). The state of Colorado has similar trends (The Colorado Trust, 2002). Compared with other age groups, older adults are more likely to use firearms as their choice of suicide method, which more often results in death (Steffens & Blazer, 1998).

As mental health practitioners and researchers, we typically focus on the psychosocial cause(s) of suicide, usually associated with the presence of risk factors, to guide our suicide prevention interventions. In reviewing the literature for my thesis, I discovered the general consensus that suicidal individuals are poor problem-solvers; that is, they tend to see one solution, and one solution only, to their problems.

However, a recent article in the New York Times ("The Urge to End It All"), highlighted the importance of focusing on the method of suicide in prevention efforts. By simply creating physical barriers to suicide, the risk of completed suicide can be mitigated. Ironically, this may be due in part to the poor problem-solving abilities of those who attempt suicide. If an obstacle is put in the way (e.g., keeping guns in a locked case or putting some time in-between the thought and the act), the individual is less likely to go through with it.

If you (or somebody you know) are suicidal, the best thing to do is call 911 or a suicide prevention hotline (like 1-800-273-TALK) or go to the nearest emergency room.

CNN.com put out an article today on older adults and the dangers of polypharmacy (see "Is Grandma Drugged Up?"). It includes several links to websites where you can find lists of medications that often cause problems for older adults, check drug interactions, and find professionals who review medications. While these resources can help older adults and their caregivers become more informed, obviously, no changes in medication should be made without consulting a physician.

The current issue of the monthly APA Monitor features geropsychology as one example of an area where psychologists are currently in demand. The main article describes an overview of what geropsychologists do and provides a few helpful links for finding out more about psychology and aging.

Also featured in this issue is Merla Arnold, Ph.D., who describes her work in assisted living settings.

The Alzheimer's Association recently released new information on Alzheimer's Disease in the United States. The report has a simple overview of dementia along with prevalence rates, information on family caregiving, the use and costs of care, mortality rates, and a special section on lifetime risk.

The scientific study of "successful aging" is still relatively new and the precise ways in which individuals manage to thrive as older adults is not very well understood. Recently, the results from the first study on aging visual artists in New York City were released by the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The aim of the project was to document the survival skills and social support of aging artists in New York City's five boroughs. The study found that the artists in this sample rank high in life satisfaction, have high self-esteem as a person and an artist, communicate daily or weekly with other artists, and are very satisfied with their careers. The authors of the report made several recommendations for both redefining "work" and "old age" and policy changes that would improve the lives of this hardy group of seniors.