Over the years, I’ve spoken with hundreds and hundreds of people whose daily lives were interrupted by a health crisis that led them into long-term care. They’ve told me how challenging it can be and we’ve discussed the changes that have occurred and how to adapt to them. If they’re going back home, we talk … Read more
Dear Readers, Thanks for joining me for another year at My Better Nursing Home. When I first began sharing my ideas online about my work as a nursing home psychologist, I considered 2009 The Year of the Blog — an experiment I committed to for one year to see what would happen. By the end … Read more
I’m thrilled to be joining author and vegan coach Victoria Moran on her radio show, Main Street Vegan Radio, at 3pm ET on 12/5/12. Earlier this year, I went to hear Victoria speak about her new book, Main Street Vegan, and became unexpectedly vegan. Tune in for our discussion of aging, compassion, and my vegan journey … Read more
Thanks to all of you who Liked, Shared, Tweeted, and purchased The Savvy Resident’s Guide during my cyber-launch earlier this month, I was able to raise $100 to donate to the American Red Cross to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Thank you for making my launch day a great success! Dr. El
The second (and hopefully last) proof is on its way. The Savvy Resident’s Guide: Everything You Wanted to Know About Your Nursing Home Stay But Were Afraid to Ask will be available soon!
As 2011 draws to a close, I’d like to thank my readers for joining me here at My Better Nursing Home. I’m especially thankful to those who shared their thoughts and experience via Comments on my posts, wrote to me via the Contact link, tweeted, FaceBooked, Linked me In and otherwise connected. You add depth … Read more
When I was in college at the State University of New York at Albany, I took an intriguing course called Behavioral Geography. The professor taught us that how we used a place affected the way we mapped it in our brains. One of our assignments was to ask people we knew from different groups to … Read more
7 Things I Worry About in Advance of My Nursing Home Stay How I’m going to manage my lip balm addiction Being cold in those flimsy cotton house dresses Controlling my temper when staff members call me “Honey” in that high-pitched, patronizing tone The mortifying trip from room to shower half-draped in a sheet (see … Read more
When I worked in the psychiatric hospital, the focus of treatment was on the mental health of the patients. Physical complaints were usually thought of as an expression of mental illness and not reflective of an actual medical problem. We once sent a patient down to the tiny sub-basement medical clinic after she injured her … Read more
Hi Folks, I’m taking a much-needed blog break for the next couple of weeks. Feel free to look around while I’m gone by scrolling through posts, using the Search box in the right sidebar for topics of your choice, or by looking through the Labeled categories also noted in the right sidebar. See you the … Read more