Last week, I had the pleasure of celebrating my oldest client’s birthday. She turned 99. We share the same name and she is often inspiration in my day to day work. She and her 94 year old sister live together, have never married and have no other family, other than…
Last Monday was Labour Day which signifies back to school and end of summer. It is a time of new beginnings, setting goals and starting new projects. Today is the first day of the Jewish New Year, another fresh start for those who celebrate. For many who may not attend…
I had previously blogged on the state of loneliness and the efforts being made in the UK with the creation of a Minister of Loneliness. We know that this is also a huge problem in own backyard and one that we continue to need to be aware of. My colleague…
Over the last few months I have attended two 90th birthday parties. Both had a common theme for me, which was how good it is to have family and friends around. Both of these 90 year old gentleman are still sharp, engaging and while less active than they once were,…
I am one of the lucky ones. I like what I do and I enjoy my work very much. The counsellors who work with me say the same thing and while we do deal with much sadness, we always try and find the positive in our daily work. This is…
A story I heard….. Last week Zoey had the pleasure of visiting her aunt and uncle (in celebration of a 90th bday) who live in the States. Zoey and her husband accompanied her mother who took the train in (by herself) from Montreal so that we could fly together. Zoey’s…
This past week I met with two new clients who were both single women in their mid- 70’s. They both lived alone in their own condos and had retired from well-paying jobs. There were reaching out to EC to help guide them in thinking about and planning for a time…
Originally posted for allaboutestates.ca Grey area: The fragile frontier of dementia, intimacy and sexual consent was the Saturday July 14, 2018 front page headline in the Globe and Mail. Seniors and sexuality finally makes the front page of a national newspaper. However It is much more than that and the…
At least 54 people in Quebec have died over the last 2 weeks due to this current heat wave; the majority were seniors. Summer has hit us hard and although all winter long we look forward to warmer weather, the heat can actually cause harm- especially to the elderly. Those…
I was browsing through the Canadian Family Physician Magazine (Vol 64 April 2018) and the ‘Geriatric Gem’ caught my interest. The topic is on supporting caregivers, specifically those of persons with dementia. The evidence presented is that “caregivers of persons living with dementia are at higher risk of depression, substance…
