The Role of Social Activities in a Senior Living Community

Senior women having fun together, branded with Good Shepherd logo

As we get older and begin the later stages of life, there is a lot to consider regarding independence. Health conditions or simply age may impact a person’s ability to live alone and care for themselves effectively. Some families may have a live-in nurse or caretaker, have another member of the family move in to assist with care, or transition

Talking to Your Loved One About Assisted Living With Compassion

Assisted living staff handing water to aging woman

When it comes to having conversations about long-term care needs with your aging parents, addressing the topic sooner rather than later is best. While this can be a difficult and complex conversation, discussing the possibility of moving into assisted living can help ensure your loved one receives the care they need to live a happy, healthy life.  The experts at

Transitioning Your Assets | Tips for Managing Your Estate

Estate planning can often be an uncomfortable and overwhelming process, making it easy to put off for years. If your plans aren’t in order, however, it can cause your loved ones a lot of stress in the future. It’s important to think about estate planning as a positive solution for making sure your wishes are followed and making it easy

Jack’s Column

Gathering wood.  Stacking wood.  Cords of wood.  These are familiar terms to an era gone by, when a majority of the population used wood for central heating and cooking. Keeping the wood box full probably was one of your duties.  Your mother depended on you to have a supply handy so she could cook a hot meal. Things changed with

Jack’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Attitude and Positivity

Attitude is an interesting word. We use it to define a person’s outlook on life. A positive attitude exemplified by a person brings forth a good feeling to other people. While a negative attitude creates an atmosphere of bad feelings. When we meet people for the first time, we probably evaluate the persons general outlook on life. If we If

Jack’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Technology and the Workforce

Positive role models are a good thing for young people. Hopefully, those models can be established in a young person by observing a family members lifestyle. Let us apply this role model to how a family takes care of the daily living activities; how much "smoother" a day can go if everyone "pitches in." If all have a positive attitude

Jack’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Automation

Automation is taking it out of the hands and letting technology do the work. I had the good fortune to work at many part-time jobs during the high school and college days. This gave me a good understanding of the world of work. Some of these jobs are now automated. One of those jobs I worked at during evening hours

The Best Ways for Older Adults to Stay Active

Exercising is a key part of living a healthy lifestyle. There are so many benefits associated with exercise, and taking advantage of those benefits becomes even more essential as we get older. No matter your age, the best exercise for you is the one that you enjoy. There will always be reasons that make you hesitate to stay active, whether

Jack’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Encounter with the Circus

As a kid, you had the whole summer to look forward to.  It seemed as a never-ending time.  What kind of experience could I envision in the weeks to come? I had a recent reminder of one of those experiences, when I observed a poster advertising a coming indoor circus.  To relive the real circus of years past came to

The Difference Between Nursing Homes and Assisted Living

It can be difficult to choose between nursing homes or assisted living facilities for a loved one, especially if they require residential care. All senior living homes are different; there is no universal approach for aging loved ones. Many people think of “nursing homes” and “assisted living” as synonyms. However, these two terms aren’t as similar as they used to