At age 67, Ann Franz moved into a cozy two-room apartment at the Towers, a perpetual care community in Winter Park, Fla., with her husband, a retired Presbyterian minister, who was showing signs of dementia.
Sometimes unorthodox approaches to medical research and treatment have the potential to yield game-changing results.
HILLSBOROUGH — As a resident of Hillsboro House, Patricia Kienholz, 92, still strolls around the neighborhood on summer nights, meets friends for lunch downtown, and visits the local library weekly as she has for most of her adult life.
From her own experience after a hip replacement, Donna Williams knew what to look for when her husband, Ellsworth, at age 82, needed long-term care after two hospitalizations for pneumonia, followed by rehabilitation.
Long-term care insurance can take fear of the unknown out of financial planning for worst case health scenarios.
CANDIA — Every weekday morning Simone Desrochers, 78, makes a peanut butter and banana sandwich, washes it down with chocolate milk, then plays computer solitaire until her caregiver arrives at 8:30 a.m. Together they play Scrabble or cribbage, or work on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle until it…
Peter McNamara is about to feel what it’s like to have dementia — with all the ravages of aging piled upon him at once.
Twenty percent of New Hampshire’s population will be 65 or older in two years.
Seniors and advocates at 10 listening sessions on New Hampshire’s next four-year State Plan on Aging — the road map for service creation for older adults — have voiced similar and sometimes surprising requests.
Even retired accountant Beth Marchilena of Nashua was intimidated by the menu of plans, deductibles, co-payments, co-insurances and maximum out-of–pocket expenses when she first selected from the Medicare lineup when she turned 65 years old.
Granite State Scholars — an inter-generational program being developed through AmeriCorps and “NH Listens” at UNH, plans to match volunteer high school graduates with seniors living at home who need companionship, general assistance and perhaps help with seasonal chores starting as early as next year.
LONDONDERRY — Patients come from an hour away — and from as far as Florida and New York — to Elliot Health System’s Memory & Mobility Center to get to the bottom of perplexing changes such as forgetting names of flowers they’ve grown for decades, losing words poised on the tip of the ton…
After 40 years teaching middle school English, remedial reading and study skills, Judith Jones looked forward to retiring to Merrimack, where she’d live close to her daughter and son-in-law.
MANCHESTER — Joyce Poland, 73, isn’t shy about sharing her recipe for durable optimism.
Twelve years ago, Dr. Maureen O’Connor, a neuropsychologist at the Bedford, Mass., Veterans Administration Hospital, started seeing patients as young as 45 in the hospital’s memory care clinic.
Jeannette Brooks’ Goffstown home is tidy and compact, just right for a senior couple and a cat who enjoys lounging in front of the sliding glass door.
If you live in Lyme, are 60 or older — or you’ve just had surgery and can’t lift anything heavy, or need an emergency window repair, who do you call?
MANCHESTER — The state’s first-ever job fair for experienced workers drew record-breaking crowds on Friday — over 630 job seekers, career changers, and retirees, mostly middle-aged or senior workers looking for employers who can use their skills.
New Hampshire’s first-ever job fair geared to experienced, retired, and older workers will be held Friday, featuring close to 100 employers looking for staff in health care, home care, customer service, transportation, financial services, auto repair and other industries.
When is memory loss normal — and when is it a sign of something serious?
MANCHESTER — At age 92, Ellie Freedman is legally blind and uses a rolling walker to navigate the halls of her retirement community. But she has a keen ear for breaking news and Red Sox winnings, and stays sharp by leading a study group on America’s founding fathers for 25 other residents at…
According to research cited in “Seven Steps to Managing your Memory” by Andrew Budson, MD, and Maureen O’Connor, Psy.D., one-third of seniors older than 75 get no exercise and less than 15 percent follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for cardiovascu…
BEDFORD - Hannelore Gartland, 74, constantly worries about the care her husband, Ed, has been receiving at Bedford Hills Center, the nursing home where the 78-year-old Vietnam War veteran, who has Parkinson's disease and dementia, has lived for 15 months.
During the summer, Adriana Vasquez, a licensed nursing assistant, worked overnight with one registered nurse in the skilled nursing unit at Bedford Hills Center, where she cared for 36 to 38 patients — many with IVs and feeding tubes, recovering from hip fractures and knee surgeries — changi…
WOODSVILLE — Around the corner from the Harmony Acres Trailer Park and across the bridge from Wells River, Vt., 35-bed Cottage Hospital has become nationally known for delivering high-quality health care in a remote part of the state.
Several years ago, Debra Desrosiers, a home care provider and dementia coach, was asked to visit a woman in her 70s living alone at the Varney School senior apartments in Manchester.
CONCORD — Marjorie Pratt is considered a high fall risk. The lively 82-year-old suffers from a chronic balance disorder, and has fallen three times in the past year: getting out of bed, tripping on a curb, and most recently, coming down the steps from her condo.
GOFFSTOWN — The names Repulse Monkey and Part Wild Horse’s Mane may not conjure images of a dreamlike dance.
MANCHESTER - Sandra Schmerder of Manchester took a break from Saturday's second annual Union Leader Silver Linings: Senior Healthy Living Expo to reflect on why this daylong event came at a good time for her.
MANCHESTER — With a rose for remembrance and a slice of lemon for bitterness endured, the newly installed Missing Man Table at the VA Medical Center bears special significance for six Granite Staters taken prisoner during Korean War or World War II.
As baby boomers close in on the traditional retirement age of 65, Granite State business leaders are carving out multiple approaches to attracting and retaining older workers - including those nearing or past retirement.
According to an AARP study, workers ages 50 and older will comprise 35 percent of the nation's workforce by 2022; 40 percent of U.S. employers report difficulty filling jobs, and 47 percent of applicants lack sufficient training or technical skills.
At 72, Suzanne Wason decided it was time to slow down, but she didn’t want to retire completely. The solution: dropping from five to four days as corporate receptionist at Northeast Delta Dental in Concord, a job she knows well, still enjoys and has held for 17 years. The change gives her ti…
WEIRS BEACH — On the main deck of the MS Mount Washington, a singer strums an acoustic guitar and croons “King of the Road.” Nearly 300 guests sway, clap, tap fingers and toes, hum and sing a few memorable stanzas. No one seems to notice the wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen tanks or nasal tubes …
Diane Blake, 75, a former psychotherapist and 40-year smoker, runs a COPD support group the second Wednesday of every month, 1 to 2:30 p.m., at the office of Breathe New Hampshire at 145 Hollis St. in Manchester.
DURHAM - To nearly 200 seniors in their 70s and 80s, the mound of fresh dirt at an 11-acre clearing on Dover Road represents more than the start of RiverWoods Durham, a continuing care retirement community slated to open late next year. It's an open invitation to yoga and strength training, …
Close to 30 continuing care retirement communities across the country have extended their services to local seniors, providing guaranteed care through the end of life for less than rates charged to CCRC residents - and offering a model for continuing care that enables seniors to age safely at home.
As New Hampshire’s baby boomers age, the state’s 212,000 workers 50 to 64 are contemplating retirement in different ways and at ages older than previous generations. As people live longer and healthier lives, the 65 benchmark for stopping work to embark on a relaxed and quiet existence no lo…
As centenarians in hospice, June LeBlanc, 100, of Goffstown and Ella Olsen, 102 of Nashua receive compassionate attention from nurses, family members, and paid attendants — but nothing as calming and instantly therapeutic as 30-minute visits from Wolfie — a dog the size of a prehistoric wolf…
Betty Adams, 85, a hospice patient with later-stage dementia, has had a difficult morning, but she brightens and becomes animated when Tinkerbell, a robotic cat, curls up in her lap.
Denise Sleeper, 53, of Gilford considers herself fortunate, even though her husband, Scott, 52, is in hospice with end-stage Alzheimer's disease.
MANCHESTER - Three Wednesdays a month at Easterseals New Hampshire's center for adult day care on Auburn Street, 10 to 12 students with Alzheimer's disease are steeped in artistic expression.
The recent high-profile rescue of a 71-year-old Florida man and his slightly younger companion from one of the most treacherous trails on Mount Washington begs two questions: What was this fellow thinking? Are hiking seniors safe?
MANCHESTER - Wilfred R. LeBlanc struggles with reduced hearing and garbled speech, but he becomes animated when an Edgar Degas painting of ballet dancers flashes on a screen at the Currier Museum of Art, during the monthly Alzheimer's Cafe.
Nine northern New Hampshire towns and Fryeburg, Maine have combined forces to become an age-friendly community together, joining the AARP’s Network of Age-Friendly Communities as the Mount Washington Valley, pledging to plan and coordinate changes in housing, transportation, health services …
MANCHESTER — Soft strains of “Amazing Grace” and “Build My Mansion” fill the second floor of the old police headquarters on Chestnut Street. Music trickles down the stairwell and booms from inside the room housing the 1269 Cafe, a soup kitchen serving lunch six days a week to the city’s home…
CONCORD - Backpacks and overstuffed tote bags dot the yard, between mountain bikes parked at odd angles and four gray-haired men inhaling the last drags on morning cigarettes. Nearby, a little girl wearing a Burger King crown leans into her mother, while her younger brother and sister shuffl…
Six years ago Marjorie Burke, 82, started asking her husband Donald, now 86, what it’s like to have Alzheimer’s disease.
CONTOOCOOK — Alan Scribner, 81, became fascinated by ancient Rome as a 4-year-old growing up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, a stone’s throw from The Cloisters museum’s collection of Greek and Roman art. He read avidly about life in the ancient world, learned Latin, and p…
