Janet Seckel-Cerrotti is the Executive Director of FriendshipWorks, where she has been helping to match volunteers with socially isolated elders for 30 years. What is FriendshipWorks? FriendshipWorks is a nonprofit dedicated to helping elders in the Boston and...
NEWS
Patient Navigators: Creating a Healthier Community through Volunteering
By Malka Young, LICSW, Director of Community Impacts, JFS of Metrowest The last time I saw the doctor; I drove into Boston, went through a maze of dark parking levels, backed into a narrow parking space, and traversed long corridors. I rushed, only to fill out my...
A Fall May Signify More Than Just an Accident
By John L. Brusch M.D., Associate Chief of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance Falls are common among adults older than 65. An estimated 14% of older adults in Massachusetts reported falling in the past three months. In about a third of these cases, they suffered an...
How to Identify Depression, and the Strength Behind the Pain
By Kathy Kuhn, Center for Aging and Disability Resource (CADER), BU School of Social Work In my last blog post on mental health and aging, I described Ms. McKay, an older woman who was coping with multiple losses. She had significant hypertension, diabetes, and...
How You Can Fight Elder Abuse in Massachusetts
By Betsey Crimmins, Senior Attorney, Greater Boston Legal Services, Inc. An elderly parent is neglected and isolated by his adult child; a 92 year old woman is at risk for eviction after being fleeced by scammers and does not have enough money to pay her rent; an...
Caregivers Have Plenty to Prepare for as Another Cold Winter Arrives
Cross-posted from Caregiving MetroWest By Douglas Flynn, Program Manager, Caregiving MetroWest The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are long gone. Holiday lights and decorations are going up. And the first snow has already come down upon the area. Winter won’t...
It’s Older Driver Safety Awareness Week!
December is a time of many holiday festivities and family get-togethers. Here in Massachusetts, it’s also a time of snow and cautious driving. Older Driver Safety Awareness Week in the first week of December is an opportunity to promote the importance of safe driving...
“It’s My Fault and I Just Need to Get Over It”: The Story of Ms. McKay’s Depression
By Kathy Kuhn, Center for Aging and Disability Resource (CADER), BU School of Social Work I’d like to share with you a story from my days as a social worker at Kit Clark Senior Services (KCSS). Ms. McKay is an 82-year-old African American woman living in Dorchester....
Caregiving Made a Little Easier in MetroWest
By Marty Cohen, President & CEO, MetroWest Health Foundation and Rebecca Gallo, Program Officer, MetroWest Health Foundation Odds are if you are over 45, you already are or soon will be a caregiver. Seventy-five percent of all care received by older adults in the...
Making Aging Sexy: Highlights from the MCOA 2014 Conference
By Angel Bourgoin, Consultant, JSI This year’s Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging (MCOA) fall conference was a great success. Bringing together Councils on Aging, municipal agencies, researchers, and other partners in Falmouth, Mass. on October 8-10, the...