The Coronavirus pandemic has forced many residential care facilities to go on lockdown and implement “no visitor” policies.  As a result, family members with loved ones in care facilities are feeling a heightened sense of “ambiguous loss”—a term coined by pioneering educator and researcher Dr. Pauline Boss to describe a form of never-ending grief.  Common in caregivers of family members with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, this feeling of grief arises because the person with dementia is “there but not there.”  Another form of ambiguous loss was noted by Dr. Boss in the early 1970s, when she interviewed family members of pilots who were missing in action during the Vietnam War.  These family members were unable to “let go” of their loved ones because they did not know whether the pilot was dead or alive.  Dr. Boss elaborates on both forms of ambiguous loss and tells us how she has experienced it in her own life.  She offers suggestions for how to lower stress levels and increase our tolerance for ambiguity, for caregivers and non-caregivers alike who are now confronting new and confusing relationships, ruptured by dementia and social distancing. Note: this episode originally aired on May 30, 2019.   

For a transcript of this episode please click here: Episode 171  

Explore the work of Dr. Pauline Boss: Ambiguous Loss

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Music: "Arashi" by Kakurenbo | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive

Like many adult children, psychologist Nancy Picard is determined to prevent her aging parents from contracting Covid-19.  But Nancy and her parents live in separate states.  So she's in daily communication with them, and has wired up their house with cameras placed at strategic locations - at foot level, to give her parents some privacy.  A returned Peace Corps volunteer who has supported people from age four to 94 as a clinician and researcher, Nancy also focuses on supporting people's needs for reminders through her health care startup, MemoryBeach.  As a psychologist and as a daughter who has cared for her elderly parents, Nancy understand the stresses of the moment and how everyday can feel incredibly long.  She's here to offer comfort and advice to caregivers, for surviving as individuals with their own needs, and as sons and daughters  tasked with filling the needs of family members and friends.

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Explore Nancy's startup: MemoryBeach

Learn more about Life Stories for the Ages: Capture a Story. Connect the Generations.

Renowned flutist Eugenia Zukerman has performed in concerts and recitals all over the world.  She was the artistic director of Colorado's Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival for 13 years, and the arts correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning for over 25 years.  And then in her early 70s, Eugenia was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.  Instead of crawling into a corner, she picked up paper and pencil and started writing - in poetry.  She has no idea why she wrote in verse, but the words flowed and resulted in her vivid new memoir, “Like Falling Through a Cloud: A Lyrical Memoir of Coping with Forgetfulness, Confusion and a Dreaded Diagnosis.”  Eugenia tells us how she stays positive despite her "gnarly" disease and about how she and her husband Dick are making every moment in life count, whether on tour with "Like Falling Through a Cloud" or among the bears and deers in their upstate New York house.  Dick tells us about his experience of Eugenia's diagnosis, and she reads from "Like Falling Through a Cloud. "  Tune in for a tale of love and the incredible power of music.

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Eugenia's website: Like Falling Through a Cloud
Facebook page: Eugenia on FB

Growing up in Alice, Texas, Jason Resendez didn't have any experience with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.   But more recently dementia has started to become an issue in his family.  Now the issue has come full circle: as Executive Director of the LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's Network, all Jason thinks about are the changing demographics in the Alzheimer's community, and in our nation.  That's because the number of Latinos in the US over age 65 is set to triple by the year 2050, when the care and treatment of Latinos with Alzheimer's disease will be a critical health equity issue.  Jason tells us how LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's is coordinating Alzheimer's awareness and brain health promotion efforts in the Latino community, where individuals have unique barriers to the health care system, or issues around stigma and language access that other communities don't necessarily have.

For a transcript of this episode and update on Jason's career click here: Transcript and Update

Connect: LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's
Report: Latinos & Alzheimer's Disease: New Numbers Behind the Crisis
"Celebrating the Power of Memory with Disney's Pixar's Coco" (Jason Resendez, 10/30/19, Medium)

NEW from Agewyz Media!  Life Stories for the Ages
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Music:
"Feels Like Fuzz in My Head" by Dlay | | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive
"Tomoshibi" by Kakurenbo | | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive

Veteran writer Leslie Gray Streeter established a loyal readership through her Palm Beach Post column, "That Girl." Now a general entertainment columnist at the Post, her writing for the newspaper began in the early 2000s and eventually included mentions of Scott Zervitz, referred to in Leslie's column as The Gentleman Friend when she and Scott were dating, and The Mister after they married.  Baltimore natives who went to the same high school but didn't know each other well at the time, Leslie and Scott had re-met after 20 years and become soul mates for life. But tragedy struck in 2015, when 44-year-old Scott died of a heart attack and Leslie became a widow.  By her own admission, she was not cut out for the role.  Five years after Scott's death, Leslie shares her moving love story and twisty path through grief and loss toward healing in her new memoir, Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title.  On the show and in print, Leslie has a few things to say about grief.  Aging, too.  

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Buy Black Widow:  Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Leslie's website: Leslie Gray Streeter
Columns in the Palm Beach Post: PB Post

NEW from Agewyz Media!  Life Stories for the Ages
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In the last two decades the number of people age 65 or older who are taking five or more medications has increased 300 percent. A problem that is much bigger than America’s opioid crisis, the scope and impact of over-prescribing in older adults is detailed in “Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem,” a report co-authored by The Lown Institute’s Judith Garber, a Health Policy and Communications Fellow at Lown; and Shannon Brownlee, Senior VP at the Institute and author of the book, “Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer.” We talk with Shannon and Judith about what’s driving the practice of over-prescribing, solutions that have been effective in tackling the problem and what you can do to prevent adverse drug events. This episode airs on the heels of a newly-released report from Lown titled, “Eliminating Medication Overload: A National Action Plan.” 

Note: this episode originally aired April 11, 2019. For a transcript of that episode click here:  Transcript

Original Report: Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem

Just released: “Eliminating Medication Overload: A National Action Plan”

Lown Institute Action Plan Issue Briefs (quick takes):
Reducing Pharmaceutical Industry Influence
Implementing Prescription Checkups
Improving Information at the Point of Care
Raising Awareness of Medication Overload
Educating and Training Health Professionals

NEW from Agewyz Media! Life Stories for the Ages
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Geriatric Care Manager Sonja Kobrin was in her twenties when she began caring for the grandparents who raised her. She had no help and was traumatized by the experience, but it informed her approach years later, when she cared for the biological father who had been absent in her childhood. This school of hard knocks training has influenced Sonja’s holistic and comprehensive approach to helping her clients at VIP Care Management, the Palm Beach County, Florida company she co-founded with her husband in 1993.  Tune in for real talk from a compassionate care manager who shares her insights and advice, and stories of families in crisis that may sound familiar.

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Explore the services of VIP Care Management
South Florida Contact: 561-588-5151
Toll free: 877-588-5158

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Award-winning filmmaker Deirdre Fishel walked around in a state of rage during the making of her documentary film, “Care,” which delves into the world of paid care from the perspective of both workers and care recipients. Deirdre talks about the making of her film, and about how her vibrant but frail mother influenced her decision to make it. As we head into the 2020 presidential elections, “Care” is a must-see film for candidates—and a powerful tool for advocates. 

Note: this episode originally aired June 8, 2017. We have an update at the end of this broadcast.

For a transcript of this episode as it originally aired click here: Transcript

Watch the trailer: Care

Website for Deirdre's film: Care
Learn more: Domestic Workers United

NEW from Agewyz Media! Life Stories for the Ages
Subscribe to The Agewyz Podcast: iTunes
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Music: “Alya” by Dlay | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive

Episode Art/Photo by Heidi Gutman