Tuktu services include driving, shopping, housekeeping, companionship and technical help, all at an affordable cost The year 2022 is finally over, and most of us would say good riddance. It was a year of wars and plagues, floods and famines, autocrats and accidents, inflation and uncertainty. As we start 2023, we really need to find…
Families are the front line of child care, elder care, and financial stability Schools, travel plans, and work schedules aren’t the only things that need to return to normal after almost three years of COVID disruptions. Marriage needs to get back on track too. Canadian marriages hit a historic low in 2020, with 33 per…
Seniors must be offered the opportunity to age in place with the help of their caregivers
By 2030, 25 per cent of the Quebec population will be 65 or over. Today, this proportion is 21 per cent, and the pressure on public residences for long-term care (CHSLD) in Quebec is already becoming too much to manage. This reality hit us during the first wave of the pandemic when deaths from COVID-19…
Newly unveiled artwork celebrates intergenerational bonds between residents and their community
Growing up in the rural midwest, Jill Thomson had a soft spot for bountiful farm gardens. It was an affection that blossomed as she moved to city life and began planting – and painting – her own urban patches of heaven. Now, the longtime artist and University of Alberta Master of arts student is sharing…
Not being able to control your bladder can be embarrassing
You’ve probably seen the ads: A row of women in nothing but their undies. Look closer and you realize they are wearing special panties – extra protection so they don’t leak urine in public. The market for such products is growing as the population ages. In fact, people’s preferences for “absorbent briefs” (no longer known…
Edmonton troupe finds a creative way to keep performing during pandemic
Carlean Fisher has been in love with the stage for as long as she can remember. As a young woman, pulling the curtains from backstage was enough to feel the rush, until years later when she got involved as a player with Edmonton’s Walterdale Theatre. “It’s an important part of who I am, ever since…Overactive bladder can distract from balance and stability
A team of University of Alberta researchers focused on aging Albertans has found that urinary incontinence could be a contributing factor in falls among older adults. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers showed for the first time that the feeling of having to pee acts as a distracting factor that increases the…
Palliative care is not about giving up hope
In the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the late bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley covered an old Appalachian folk song, Oh, Death. His Grammy-winning version included this haunting passage: “Oh, Death “Whoa, Death “Won’t you spare me over ’til another year?” This is how our society generally treats casual references to the inevitable passage…
Training modules, advisory group designed to help nurses, caregivers and others overcome biases against older people
A University of Alberta researcher is hoping to start a Canada-wide revolution to combat discrimination against older people, starting with a change to the way nursing students are educated. “Ageism has been described by other scholars as the last “ism” that is socially accepted,” said Sherry Dahlke, associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing. “It’s subtle and…
There has been a 73 per cent increase in calls to Alberta Poison and Drug Information Service in 2020
Our obsession with killing germs during the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unintended and dangerous consequence, according to the University of Alberta’s Injury Prevention Centre: a sharp increase in unintentional poisonings due to hand sanitizers, disinfectants and household cleaners. Calls to Alberta’s Poison and Drug Information Service (PADIS) related to these products have increased by 73 per cent…