Safety, Health, Finances Archives - Page 14 of 15

Home > Topic Deep-dives > Safety, Health, Finances

My Plan to Avoid the Terror of Short Term Memory Loss

Avoiding short term memory loss: Daily activities on Google Calendar

My mother has severe short term memory loss. As her caregiver, I have found that her short term memory impairment has many adverse consequences. My experience with my mother has made me concerned about how I could avoid the horrors that come with short term memory loss when it inevitably hits me in the future.

While I cannot prevent short term memory loss, I do believe that I can mitigate the confusion and anxiety that comes with not being able to mentally track my daily activities. My solution is a simple technological memory prosthesis – a “wearable” calendar. This article describes my idea and how I am implementing it.

Talk: Making Better Eldercare Decisions – How technology can help.

At our next Aging in Place Technologies Meetup (Dec. 10th), Jack Herndon (Sage Eldercare Solutions) will be talking on the topic of how technology can help make better eldercare decisions.

Fall proofing your house: a checklist

fall prevention home assessment checklist

For the older adult worried about falls, one of the most important tasks is to “fall-proof” your house. There are numerous services you can retain to help with this. But how do you know they have done the right things? And, if you are the friend or family of an older adult, how can you do a “check” to make sure the house of the person you care for is relatively well “fall-proofed”? Here is a useful checklist developed by the Executive Director of Marin Villages.

Legal and Financial Issues following Dementia Diagnosis

My husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and I need to make sure I have taken care of everything. I do have power of attorney but want to make sure everything has been taken care of. What should I be worrying about? Alice

Longevity Collective Research Report Published

Two of our Longevity Collective members spent a lot of time and energy earlier this year conducting a research study about a new category of products called Activity-tracking Home Sensor Systems. The authors (Mary Hulme and Richard Caro) decided that they had learned a lot about these products, and that in fact there was rather a lot to know if you wanted to pick the right product for a given set of life circumstances, and that it made sense to share this knowledge with the world.

Hearing aid batteries don’t last long

One participant in this discussion was explaining how frustrating it was to have to replace his hearing aid batteries every week. Not to mention expensive. Another participant had a different product that had rechargeable batteries that largely eliminated this concern. Cross pollination of ideas followed.

So You Want to Build a Pill Dispenser? Focus on Filling!

Do you have an idea for a pill dispensing product? Good for you. You’ve seen the problem and complexity of multiple medication and you have an idea to make it better. I commend you.

At NightingaleRx we’ve learned a few things from evaluating other pill dispensers and studying the medication management landscape. Here are a few things to keep in mind that may assist in your endeavors:

The home that watches over your parents: Is it for you?

Activity-tracking Home Sensor Systems are new products designed to help seniors stay in their homes longer, and to help their family and friends worry about them less. If you worry about an elderly relative or friend who spends a lot of time home alone, and are concerned about what would happen if they fell, or if they left the stove on, or if they had an accident and you were not there to help, then these products are designed with you in mind.

We wanted to find out if they work well yet? And which ones work best (there are quite a few)? And for which types of people and types of circumstance are they suitable?

We set out to answer questions like these in this research project which is a collaboration between Tech-enhanced Life’s internal analyst team, and a group of Citizen Observers and Citizen Evaluators.

My mother’s poor short term memory reduces quality of life.

My mother has complete short term memory loss. Her long term memory is not impaired. The short term memory loss syndrome results in: difficulty in learning new things, difficulty in keeping track of things, social difficulty (impossible to carry on a conversation – always repeating questions and not remembering the answer), and confusion. Once a concept or fact gets past short term memory and into long term memory, she is as normal as anyone else.

Forget to Turn the Stove Off

Once or twice a month I leave the stove on after fixing breakfast. Most of the time I realize that I have left the stove on but it may be an hour or two after breakfast. I worry about what might happen as a result of this forgetfulness.