Years before the COVID-19 pandemic, I attended a conference hosted by the American Society on Aging. One session featured Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, whose research left a lasting impression. She shared a striking statistic: the health risks of loneliness and isolation in older adults are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I don’t usually remember numbers well, but that one stuck. And when I’ve shared it with others, the reaction is often disbelief—Really? That can’t be!
Brain Health Mentation, or brain health, is the second blog in this series about What Matters Most for your healthcare. Inspired by an article from NextAvenue , What..
AGE FRIENDLY The population of the United States is aging. A 2017 study found that “within just a couple decades, older people are projected to outnumber children for..
Many residents in our community seek to live fully each day by focusing their energy on the light of hope. Addressing the joys and challenges of aging while living..
Assessing for Hope As a chaplain working with older adults in long-term care, part of my call is to complete spiritual assessments with residents. In obtaining their..
A Community's Birth Communities of people are fluid. We change houses or jobs, get a promotion at work or join a church. Years later, some may choose to move into a..
Our assisted living community celebrated the life of one of our beloved residents a few weeks ago. Preparing for worship, I thought about how a community of saints can..
The Impact of Clergy Age on Churches When I was ordained back in 1981, I accepted the call to serve St. Andrew’s UCC, a small congregation in the old industrial city of..
Connecting Through Small Groups: A Story Last week, at the continuing care retirement community where I serve, the speaker for our senior class group that day called two..
My mom was diagnosed with vascular dementia several years ago, and she has had increasing memory problems. Mom is one of close to six million people living with dementia..
